They All Lived Story 58: Into the Whirlwind
by LadyWordsmith
Summary: Al's grand-daughter Minxia's school archaeological adventure to ancient ruins turns into drama, excitement, and danger, when their trip takes an unexpected turn, putting both Al and Minxia in mortal peril. Meanwhile, back home, village politics threatens to turn ugly as Ed's son Aldon makes a bid for mayor of Resembool, with Ed as his campaign manager!
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: **And, we're back! Thanks to everyone for their patience in waiting for this story! After a little time off, getting several crazy life changes taken care of (my husband is cancer free, and I have a full-time outside-the-house job!), and a very productive November of writing, I have another completed story to share! And enough of a buffer that I hope to be able to get back into a regular posting schedule again._

* * *

**December 22****nd****, 1973**

There was nothing Edward Elric would rather do, he thought, than watch his family interact and spend time with them. That was why holidays where the entire ever-growing clan could get together were his favorites, and this afternoon was no exception. Once again everyone had gathered in Resembool for the winter holiday, and from his vantage point in the kitchen, where he was helping with dinner preparation by chopping huge piles of vegetables that were going in various dishes for the next several days, he could see and overhear several conversations going on at once; which was good, because the family was so big now that having just one group and one conversation was nigh on impossible.

And there were several conversations Ed was enjoying listening in on. The nearest, and most interesting to him, was listening to Minxia talk about her first term at the Chalas School in Creta, the private high school that specialized in archaeology, anthropology that worked in conjunction with the University at Pylos.

Naturally, Minxia had also taken tons of photographs and was happily showing them off as she talked about the stories and people involved with each of them. "And these are the Emulan Ruins, where we went on our last field trip. It's said that the ancient Cretans built them as a temple to one of their gods; the god of wealth, and that it used to be full of riches, but that after a war five centuries ago, all of it was looted and scattered, not only around Creta, but much of it was taken across the seas to foreign lands. It certainly looks like there was a war though, and there's no gold or anything left there now. They've been digging scouring the place ever since."

"What's this one?" Urey asked his second cousin curiously, pointing at a photo Ed couldn't see because of the crowd around Minxia at the long dining table.

"Oh, that one's call the throne of Varalax. He was the last king of Emulan, back when Creta was nothing but city-states."

"It looks big enough to seat five or ten people," Ted commented. "Don't tell me he was a giant."

"Only his ego," Minxia giggled. "I think it was more meant to be a tribute, given its carved of stone, and Professor Filian from the University said that they think there used to be a separate statue of Varalax that was carved and then seated on the statue, but that it was taken. That's based on some scrape marks you can see on the seat of the chair if you climb up on it."

"Is that why this dark haired boy is hanging from the seat by his knees?" Gracia asked with a knowing smile.

"Sort of," Minxia chuckled. "That's my friend Thrakos. He's a goofball like that."

"Wait, Thrakos Argyros?" Al asked, and he looked up and caught Ed's eye.

"Yeah, he's President Argyros' son," Minxia confirmed. "But you wouldn't know it. He's really easy going and well, as you can see he's not really into formal stuff."

"I'm not surprised," Winry chuckled, poking her head out of the kitchen door next to Ed. "His uncle isn't either."

"That's for sure," Sara smiled, coming over to join them. "Sounds like it was a fascinating term, Minxia."

"And she brought home straight As," Will beamed proudly.

"You sound like you're surprised," Ren teased.

"Of course not," Will snorted. "I'm just proud. The curriculum's a lot stricter at Chalas than it was at Central Middle School."

"That's the truth," Minxia grinned. "My classes were so busy! On top of Introduction to Archaeology, and Basic Anthropology, and the required advanced Cretan course for non-Cretan students, I had to take Literature, and Mathematics, and Continental History."

"_And_ she joined the gymnastics club, and the alchemy club!" Michio chimed in, having clearly heard more about his big sister's school experience than the extended family.

"They have an alchemy club?" Ed asked curiously. He'd never heard of a school having an alchemy club.

"Yeah," Minxia looked up at him. "One of our teachers, Mr. Rallos, is an alchemist. He doesn't do big, flashy stuff, but he knows a lot, and most of the club is about theory and the history of alchemy and types of alchemy more than actually _doing_ anything. So you don't actually have to be an alchemist to be in the club."

"That's neat," Al smiled at his grand-daughter. "So what have you been talking about in that?"

As the conversation shifted to discussion of the clubs and school life, Ed's attention turned back to his vegetables and the rest of the room. There was another large group hanging out in the couches and squashy recliners by the fireplace and the television, though the television was off, and the fireplace had a roaring blaze.  
Reichart and Deanna were curled up on one couch, with little Rhiana asleep on her father's shoulder, making use of her favorite napping spot, especially now that Deanna's lap was slowly vanishing again as she was five months pregnant.

Coran and Gale were sitting with them, as were Trisha and Roy. Ed was glad Trisha and Roy had decided to spend their first holiday married in Resembool. While Roy had always been welcome at Sara's house and at family parties with friends, he hadn't gotten to take part in the full Elric _experience. _So far he seemed to be enjoying himself, drinking a root beer and lounging and talking.

"Spying on everyone as usual, Dad?"

Ed looked over at Sara, who had joined him in the kitchen. "Of course. How else can I keep track of everything that's going on?" He nodded over at Trisha and Roy. "How are they doing?" After the rough period in Drachma that had led to, of all things, their very sudden marriage, Ed hadn't heard as much as he wanted to about them, especially annoying given he'd been their alchemy teacher for years. He had only briefly been back in Central for the party they'd held to celebrate, and that was it.

"They're doing much better," Sara replied. "The apartment's really cute, the one they found, despite the fact it's really close to HQ, and they come over for dinner at least twice a week. A lot of the tension seems to be gone."

"Should we be expecting news of more great-grandkids in the near future?"

"Dad." Sara rolled her eyes. "I don't think so. Trisha said they want to wait a while, and just have fun being married first, and get used to actually living together and working things out before they add kids to the mix."

"That might be one of the most sensible things I've ever heard," Ed quipped, though he smiled at Sara when she half glared at him. "Not that I've ever been accused of sensibility myself. That's good though." They didn't have nearly the world experience, despite their careers, that Sara and Franz had, though they had at least as much as say, Aldon and Cassie had. The fact that they had avoided having children before they wanted them so far boded well in Ed's mind. "Hey, where's Ian?" Sara's arrival had caused Ed to cast about for James, and then Ian, since they had all come in that day on the train together.

Sara rolled her eyes. "Your motion-picture star grandson was mobbed by pretty girls when we got off the train. I expect he's still regaling his friends with stories of Central and filming."

At that, Ed laughed. Of course. "I'm sure he is. Though he did do a very convincing job in that film, didn't he?" The movie Ian had filmed not too long ago had just come out in the theaters, and now that Resembool had a movie house –three whole screens, biggest in the area- Ed had found it very easy to go watch. Naturally Resembool had been one of the first places to play it too, since it had one of their own in a starring role.

"Oh he did," Sara agreed. "Which is why my house now gets press calls wanting to do interviews, and we've unlisted the number to avoid the ever-growing number of rabid fan girls hoping Ian will date them."

"Has he?"

"None of the rabid ones," Sara admitted, though she shook her head. "But he's gotten very popular, even at school. Thankfully he's got some fairly sensible friends, even if most of them are on the cast of _Amestris High_ or other shows at the studio. He's got a couple of them at school too, and he's getting his work done. If he wasn't, I wouldn't let him go out."

"He's lucky he lives with a couple of Generals to keep him in line," Ed grinned. He wasn't too worried about Ian. He was more sensible, and more career conscious, than the troublesome teens Ed had known, and raised in some cases.

He glanced in the direction of Tore, who was over with Ethan and Cal keeping a general eye on the great rumpus of kids playing a complex board game in the corner, while the littler ones played with blocks.

"Yeah. I'll kick his ass if he does anything dumb," Sara grinned.

"Hey, Sara, can you help me with this casserole?" Alyse called from further in the kitchen.

"Right on it!" Sara turned and walked away.

In the corner, Ed saw Coran stand up quickly, and come towards the kitchen with a particularly quick walking step. Watching his grandson curiously, Ed noticed he glanced back at Gale at least twice as he came in, poured a cup of hot chocolate, and turned to go. It was very, suspicious. Coran returned with the cocoa, offered it to Gale, kissed her on the cheek. "Do you need anything else?" Coran asked, though Ed could only read his lips over the gabble in the room.

Apparently Gale said yes, because Coran came back almost immediately to the open front counter, where snacks were laid out for consumption until dinner was ready. He started putting fresh veggies and dip on the plate, and fruit salad, and pasta salad.

"That for Gale or you?" Ed teased, getting an inkling and going with the hunch.

"What? Oh…" Coran shrugged. "It was a long trip," he said a little too casually.

"When's she due?"

Coran almost dropped the spoon. He was staring at him now. "How do you _do_ that?"

Ed laughed, and gave an answer that was no more than gesturing out at the large living room positively crammed with people. "Do you really need to ask that question?"

Coran chuckled. "You have a point."

"So were you going to tell anyone?"

"Tonight," Coran admitted. "We haven't known very long, and she's not due until August, so there's time."

"Planned?" Ed dared to ask, even though he knew that could be a loaded question.

"Enough," Coran grinned. "We figured we were ready, and we didn't really want to wait too late to start."

"You're only twenty-three," Ed pointed out.

"Exactly," Coran retorted. "Gale didn't want to wait to start until we were older. Something about wanting to be able to keep up with them, and keep her figure," he grinned.

Ah, so this was mostly Gale's idea. "I take it you agree with her."

"On both counts," Coran chuckled as he finished filling the plate and turned away, heading back to the couch.

"Ed, are those vegetables done?" Winry's voice came from behind him. "I need the potatoes and the onions for this stew."

Ed looked down. Fortunately he had finished both of those. He smiled as he picked up those two bowls and turned away. "They're ready, dear. Do you need anything else?"

* * *

Alphonse eventually tore himself away from Minxia's excited and ongoing narrative about her experiences in Creta, and returned to helping in the kitchen, where Elicia was working on making a variety of desserts. Currently she was working on a triple-batch of cheesecake. In theory, that ought to be enough for everyone to have some. "I'm amazed you were able to get so many fresh strawberries," he said, looking at the large bowl of sugared fruit that was going to be the topping for the light, fluffy white cheesecakes.

"Ed cheated for me," Elicia grinned. "He went out into the hot-house and encouraged a few strawberry plants."

"He must have been very convincing," Al grinned. A hot house and a little alchemy and there was no reason you couldn't have fresh fruit out of season.

"He really wanted strawberries," Elicia laughed, and out from seeming nowhere a wooden spoon smacked the back of Al's outstretched hand.  
He snapped it back from the strawberries, and grinned abashed. "I can't blame him. They look delicious. Almost as good as you… almost." He kissed her cheek.

"Flatterer." Elicia finished pouring the cheesecake batter into three pans. "So, did you tell Minxia about your surprise?"

Al shook his head, and grinned mischievously. "No, I thought I'd let her be really surprised."

"You're really going to spring this on your granddaughter with no prior warning?" She picked up the first pan.

"Of course," he laughed as he opened the oven for her. "It will be a lot more fun that way."

* * *

"We should hurry this up so we can make use of the hot tub," Aldon grinned, speaking quietly to Ed after dinner.

"You think there will be room?" Ed laughed, as much as he was looking forward to spending time in the hot tub out back, especially in the winter, the folks who didn't live in Resembool would probably claim it first. Oh well, maybe they could talk Roy into heating the entire swimming _pool_ enough to make it enjoyable.

Family announcement time had turned out to be after dinner –which Ian had arrived just in time for- and once everyone was full and less inclined to run around. Even the kids were content to sit more quietly and play, or read, or go off by themselves into other parts of the house.

"Good point. Maybe if we hurry." Aldon looked over at Cassie, who smiled, and then knocked on the mantelpiece with his fist. The sound carried well enough in the high-ceilinged room that everyone fell quiet, the excitement still buzzing from Gale and Coran's announcement that they were expecting. "Hey, everyone, I've got something I'd like to say."

"Well at least we know you aren't having another one," Cal quipped from the back.

"Very funny." Ed looked at his son. This was his show.

"After a lot of thought, and discussions, and more thought… and permission from my wife," Aldon went on, smiling. "I've decided to go ahead and run for Mayor of Resembool."

That elicited even more excited buzz, several cheers, a few laughs, and a general round of applause.

"It's about time," Reichart called out.

"I guess that means he can count on your vote?" Ed teased.

"Too bad most of us don't live here," Trisha smiled. "It would be in the bag!"

"Now I don't know how much of a shot I've got," Aldon continued. "But it doesn't look like I'll have a lot of competition. Mayor Turwell is retiring, so it's a whole new race."

Turwell was actually a couple of years older than Ed, and he wasn't at all surprised the man wanted to retire after a nearly twenty-year run of regular re-elections. He was very well liked.

"Who are you running against?" Coran asked curiously.

"So far the only other name I've heard bandied around is Ron Causwith," Aldon replied.

"Who's he?" Sara asked.

"He runs the new electrical plant," Ed informed his daughter. "He and his wife moved into town about two years ago."

"What does this have to do with you?" Tore asked Ed.

Ed shrugged, grinning. He figured that question would come around to him sooner or later. "I'm going to be his campaign manager."

"You?" Sara blurted out, looking surprised.

"Is that so funny?" Ed asked. "Who else knows as much about politics _and_ Resembool in this family, I'd like to know? _And_ lives here and will be here to help?" he added, heading off Alphonse's retort as his brother raised his hand.

Al laughed. "Fair enough."

"So just what kind of issues are discussed in a political race somewhere like Resembool?" Charisa asked, with honest curiosity.

"Oh all sorts of things," Aldon leaned back against wall. "Bridge and road maintenance, new electrical wiring, city ordinances, new buildings, grazing rights…"

"Grazing rights?" Roy looked puzzled.

Ed nodded. "Yep. Well would you like to wake up to find a herd of sheep and their shepherd staring in your bedroom window?"

"Ah, no," Roy admitted, his cheeks going slightly rosy. "I'd rather not."


	2. Chapter 2

**January 2****nd****, 1974**

All too soon the holidays were over, the Central part of the family had packed up and headed home, and things once again grew quieter –they were never entirely quiet- in Resembool. At least now Edward had a project to work on for the next couple of months that was sure to take advantage of his creativity and mental faculties; helping Aldon get elected as mayor. He had insisted he'd be the head of his son's campaign ever since Aldon had come to him and informed him that he had finally decided to go ahead and do it.

Now seemed like the right time. Little Callista was eight-and-a-half, so aside from getting to play with their granddaughter –now soon to be followed by two more grandchildren- there were no really small children in Aldon and Cassie's house requiring constant care. They were both keeping busy with work, and most of Aldon's projects were for the town or other towns in the surrounding countryside.

Fortunately the whole family was in on the campaign. Otherwise, Ed surmised, Winry would never have been so patient as he and Aldon had determined _their_ house to be campaign headquarters, and were already spending evenings with the dining table littered with papers and reports and information as they started putting together the campaign platform. Official announcements to run were being made at the City Council Meeting on the eighteenth, and they needed to be ready to hit the ground running.

"You know you can't live on coffee right?" Winry commented wryly as Ed poured his third cup and sipped from it.

"You're right," Ed nodded agreeable, and smiled up at her. "Isn't there cake in the fridge?"

Winry rolled her eyes. "Yes, I believe there's a few slices left. You can get it yourself."

"And what are you up to?"

"Working, what else?" Winry shrugged. "That new leg for Mr. Varalmund needs to be mailed out tomorrow. He's still at the hospital in Parkool, and they have a surgeon who can attach it, but they need it."

Of course. Work as always. Ed remembered Varalmund. He had moved out of Resembool a few years ago to live nearer his children, but suffered an unfortunately violent accident. "I'll get my own cake," he assured her, watching Winry cross the living area and vanish into her workshop. When he turned around Aldon was grinning. "What's so funny? I know for a fact Cassie's already commiserating with Deanna and Winry about how she doesn't expect to see you until this is over."

"And how would you know that?"

"They were talking about it yesterday over tea, while you were working on the new bridge downriver," Ed grinned, standing up. "When they thought I was upstairs writing."

"Weren't you?" Aldon asked as he watched him cross into the kitchen and open the refrigerator.

"Not then." Ed set the plate of cake on the counter and cut off a large hunk. "You want some?"

"Sure. What have you been working on?" Aldon looked at him curiously. "I didn't think you were doing another fictional work right now."

"I'm not." Ed cut another slice, put away the cake, and brought both plates to the table. "I told my publisher I needed a break to, you know, refill the creative reserves," he winked. "The truth is, what I'm really interested in is doing something different for a while. I mean, writing a few books was fun, but I feel like I've already distilled the best of Al's and my adventures into the books I've written. And the worst well… no one really wants to read those, nor should they. I've published alchemy books, adventure novels, and even got a note in there on Will's research on the nature of souls, and that's as much philosophy as alchemy."

"So now you're working on a political essay?" Aldon suggested as he held up the sheaf of papers in his hands, and smiled. "Or are you actually writing your memoirs in something other than travelogue?"

"I'm not really sure." Ed took a bite of cake. "Like I said, I'm not really sure everything I've been through needs to be published. Most of it's written down in some form or another already, and I don't like to spend most of my time ruminating on the past. There's so much going on here in the present that's a lot better." Like working together on this. Ed had always wanted a project that was something he and Aldon could really get into together, and his son had never been an alchemist; he'd always been the engineer.

Aldon seemed to get what he meant. "It means a lot to have your help with this, Dad. Just do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Don't get me run out of town."

Ed barked a laugh. "Oh come on now, even Al and I never managed to get run out of town, even when we tried."

**January 8****th****, 1974**

It was great to be back in Pylos. Minxia had already begun to think of her school as a second home, and arriving back in her dorm the night before, to find her roommate Angelique hanging up new posters of her favorite Cretan rock band, the Cracked Bass, and music blasting, and her own half of the room as clean as she'd left it and waiting, had certainly felt like she was coming home to just another place she belonged, despite the long train ride on the Central-to-Pylos express train that had brought her back to school as fast as was possible.

Late as it had been, Minxia hadn't gotten to see any of her other friends, like Thrakos, who was a year older than she was and lived in the boys' dormitories, which were kept –naturally- on the opposite side of campus from the girls' dormitories. The dining hall, which was part of the larger student center, sat near the middle of campus around the grassy area known as the quadrant, since it was a large rectangle surrounded by the primary administration building, the dining-and-student-center (usually just called the DC), the massive library, and the performing arts building, which was the auditorium in which all-school meetings and assemblies were also held. Often professors who came to guest lecture from the University would hold open lectures there as well.

So Minxia had to wait until the next morning before she got to see anyone who didn't live on her floor.

As always, she laid her clothes out the night before, so when it came time to put on her uniform in the morning, all she had to do was slip into the burgundy knee-length skirt, cream blouse, burgundy blazer, and her sneakers. Her long red-brown hair she pulled back in double-tails, enjoying the contrast of her hair with her relatively Xingese features. Not that she was vain, but she had always kind of liked not looking like everyone else.

Neither did Angelique, who had thick, shiny black hair that was also incredibly curly, but always looked perfectly styled. Minxia had no idea how she did it, because Angelique never seemed to spend any more time than Minxia did preparing for the day.

:Ready to go?: Minxia turned away from the mirror and grabbed her bag with the books for her morning classes. She was really looking forward to this term, because this term the freshmen were taking a course called "Research Methods and Archaic Subjects" which sounded absolutely fascinating, since it combined how to do and compile research with looking at fascinating old things. Back in Central, she knew half her class would have been bored to tears at the idea of that much work, but Minxia was looking forward to the challenge.

:Yes, though we should hurry if we don't want to get stuck at the end of the breakfast line,: Angelique agreed, and together the two girls hurried down out of the dormitory –which was really more like an overly-large three-story manor house built with lots of rooms meant to fit one or two girls, though the top floor single-story rooms were mostly reserved for senior girls, and juniors lucky enough to get a shot after room assignments were done.

The dining hall was even more raucous than usual when they got there, as everyone greeted each other after the break. By the time they got through the line and Minxia picked out a breakfast of hot cereal with fresh fruit and honey in it, and a tall glass of orange juice, the tables all looked to be nearly full.  
Fortunately the eagerly waving hand of Thrakos Argyros, and his good-looking smiling face, were hard to miss. The girls joined him and his friend-and-roomate Kerr Jones, who had saved them seats, apparently with many threats of violence.

:How kind of you,: Minxia chuckled as she sat down across from Thrakos. :Did you really tell Hamash you'd punch him in the nose? That's really not nice.:

:Aww, c'mon, Minx, you know we'd only threaten violence for the benefit of you and Angelique.:

:Feeling the love?: Angelique giggled, smiling coyly at Kerr, who smiled back but couldn't speak since he had a mouthful of bacon.

:So, anyone know who's teaching this new class?: Thrakos asked between bites as he went back to eating. :No one seems to know other than it's someone new.:

:Maybe a graduate student from the University?: Angelique suggested, pulling out her schedule. :There's no name down.:

:How mysterious,: Minxia chuckled. :Maybe they want to keep us in suspense?:

:Or maybe they had trouble finding someone to teach it,: Thrakos grinned. :Maybe our class has too scary a reputation.:

:As what?: Minxia asked him. :Goofballs?:

* * *

The school term began with the usual opening-of-school assembly, in which the Headmaster gave a little speech –far shorter than the one at the beginning of the year- and then let students make various announcements regarding clubs and student groups before everyone hurried off to their first class.

Minxia had her Cretan for non-Cretan Students class and her Continental History course the first two periods of the day. Since most of her friends were Cretan or already fluent, she didn't see them until History, and then they all trooped across the way to the Archaeology building, where their research class was the continuation of what had last term being their basic Introduction to Archaeology.

The room was packed, and they got seats up near the front, eager to find out who the new professor was and so as not to miss a thing, hoping the class would be as interesting as it sounded instead of turning out to be dull.

Minxia settled herself into her desk, pulled out a notebook and pen, and looked up as the teacher entered the room-

:Good morning,: Alphonse Elric said in Cretan as he smiled at the class as he moved up to the podium in the front of the room. :I am Professor Elric, and I will be teaching Research Methods and Archaic Subjects this term.:

Minxia nearly dropped her pencil.

From that moment on the class was a bit of a blur. Minxia was fully aware that her hands were taking notes on what was going to be going on in class that term –several papers, based on actual archaeological trips they would be going on and getting hands on experience- but her mind was still wrapping itself around the fact that her grandfather was teaching her class this semester, in _Creta_, and he hadn't said a single word about it all through the winter holidays!

:Wow, Minx!: Thrakos was looking at her with a touch of awe as they left the class an hour later. :You never told us your _grandfather_ was teaching! _The_ Alphonse Elric? That's like, the most epically awesome teacher we could possibly have for this class!:

Feeling mildly dumbfounded, Minxia didn't really want to admit, with everyone else around, that she had never been told. :Oh, yeah. Well it wouldn't have been fun to spoil the surprise, would it?:

:Here he comes!: Angelique beamed, stopping them in the hall and smiling. :Hello Professor Elric.:

:Good morning,: he stopped and smiled at all of them, then grinned at Minxia. :I hope you all enjoyed the lecture.:

:It was riveting,: Angelique assured him enthusiastically enough that Minxia was beginning to wonder if he friend might not be developing a crush on her grandfather. A slightly creepy thought, though she supposed he was good looking enough for his age.

:Is Grandma Elicia here too?: Minxia asked, trying not to sound like she'd had no idea he was coming.

:She'll be around later,: Grandpa promised. :She's taking care of getting things settled into the apartment over in faculty housing, which I get to escape by spending my day in classes and faculty meetings.:

:Sounds good to me,: Thrakos grinned. He had never really been one for cleaning. Minxia had heard his room was almost supernaturally messy. :Did my dad know you were going to be teaching here this term, sir?:

:He did actually,: Alphonse grinned.

Minxia felt a little better as Thrakos shook his head and laughed. :I'm going to have to give him a hard time for not telling me.:

* * *

"Alphonse, is that you?" Elicia called from the bedroom of their little apartment as Al came in the front door.

"Yes, it's me," he replied, sure the smile he wore carried in his voice as much as he could feel it on his face. It was not a large apartment. In fact, it was barely larger than the little one above Rockbell Auto-mail had been in Central before the addition. The one he'd lived in as a bachelor, a lifetime ago. But it was very nicely appointed, with hardwood floors and halfway up the walls, all stained dark, but with large windows that were open to the cool ocean breeze coming through the window. He couldn't see the ocean from where they were on campus, but they were close enough to smell it, and hear it in the distance in the quiet of evening. A bedroom, a bathroom, a living area, and a kitchenette; all they really needed, but so little to care for after living in their house in Central for so long.

"How was your day?" Elicia asked as she came out into the living area.

"Fantastic," Al grinned, crossing the floor and taking her in his arms for a warm kiss. "Thank you so much for agreeing to come with me. I think this is going to be a wonderful term."

"I'm glad." She returned the kiss. "Did you see Minxia?"

"I did," Al chuckled, feeling mildly guilty. "Though I think I shocked her more than I planned to. And her friends seemed to think she knew about it, so I tried not to give it away."

"That's good of you," Elicia smiled as they sat down together on the large striped couch. "There's nothing worse at that age than being humiliated in front of your friends."

"I do remember that, actually." Al leaned back, relaxing for the first time in hours. He had actually enjoyed all three of the classes he had taught that day, and the meetings he'd had with the department afterwards. He could see why Will loved teaching at the university in Central so much. "I also got to meet her friends. Nice group of kids. Not that I thought she'd be foolish enough to choose otherwise."

"But you can write back and give intelligence on her with a clear conscience?" Elicia suggested knowingly.

"I am not here to spy on my granddaughter for my son," Al replied with a slightly insulted expression, though it was spoiled by a smile. "I'm here to keep an eye on her for myself." In truth, he was there because they had needed a professor to fill in for a term, and President Argyros –who was also on the board of the school- had suggested him. "You've done great things with this apartment already," he complimented as he looked around. They hadn't brought a lot of stuff with them, since they hoped to pick up a few new items while they were in Creta, but there were hints of home. Elicia's favorite tablecloth on the little table barely big enough for two; his most important alchemy books on a shelf by the window. Everything appeared to have been unpacked.

"Thank you. It's not like there was much to do," Elicia pointed out, though she looked pleased anyway.

"There's only one thing missing," he said, looking around as he laid a hand on her thigh.

"And what's that?" Elicia asked him with a curious expression.

"We should have brought a cat."


	3. Chapter 3

**January 18****th****, 1974**

Edward took his seat at the end of the front row of chairs in the Resembool town meeting hall and sat back, ready to see how the first round of speeches went for this year's mayoral election race. It had been a while since anyone had actually bothered to run, given no one had had anything against the current mayor, so it had been quite a long time –a couple of decades actually- since there had been a need for real elections instead of a formality.

The room was buzzing and crammed to the brim with curious citizens, even those who didn't actively partake in local government. Ed privately thought whoever won should propose a larger town meeting hall and separate government building. The place was just too small for Resembool now. The town would never be Central, but it was still far bigger than Ed's childhood village memories.

Next to him sat Winry, then the rest of the Resembool Elrics; Reichart and Deanna with their daughter on Reichart's lap, Urey, Ted, and Callie. Everyone was wearing good clothes. Nothing too fancy, but Deanna and Callie were both in dresses, the boys in slacks and nice shirts. The only members of the family in suit-dress were Aldon and Cassie, and Ed would have expected nothing less.

The two mayoral candidates and their wives were seated up on the platform behind the podium from where the speeches would be made. Aldon wore his best suit, and Cassie looked lovely in a simple knee-length pale green dress with a very small blue-flower print, and a flowing skirt. Her long dark hair was braided and twisted up on her head in a way that looked sophisticated and yet reminded Ed of when his daughter-in-law was younger. She had worn it that way for years out of habit from dancing. Her smile was relaxed and happy.

Ed couldn't help comparing the two couples and sizing up the competition, even though he had seen them before. Ron Causwith also wore a suit; though Ed thought his might be silk. He was a leaner man than Aldon; slim, with hair that was already just starting to go a bit thin up top despite being nearly the same age.  
His wife, Rilla –though Ed thought he'd heard her full name was Marilla- outdid them all for fashion. At least, she did if you were going for up-town. Her dress was mauve silk, straight-skirted with a small jacket, and her blond hair had a trendy cut that was above the shoulder, but Ed wouldn't call it _short._ She also wore more makeup than Cassie did. Not distasteful, but far more noticeable.

They had only one son, an eight-year-old who was sitting at the end of the other front row in a small suit, looking uncomfortable and bored, but sitting very straight and behaving himself.

Ed glanced back at Callie, who was about the same age, but seemed more interested in what was going on than the boy did.

He only turned his attention back to the podium itself when Frank Withens, the butcher, who was running tonight's meeting stood up and smiled. "Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the first Resembool pre-election town meeting this year. Tonight you're going to get to hear a bit from both candidates, and both will be happy to answer questions once they have had the opportunity to speak."

Without any further words, Withens got down and out of the way. Ed had to admit, he liked politics in Resembool. It was much simpler and more straight forward than dealing with the bureaucracy of Central.

Ron Causwith got up first and stepped up confidently to the podium. "Good evening, people of Resembool. I know that my family and I are relatively new to this fine town, but in the years we have lived here, we have become very fond of it, and it is my desire to serve it, and you, to the best of my abilities to continue to bring Resembool forward!"

Causwith's speech was interesting enough. Ed heard a lot of talk about progress and expansion, and while it sounded exciting and all well and good, he knew a lot of Resembool folk still preferred their change in small bites. He couldn't help but wonder how many of them would really go in for further modernization.

When it was over, Aldon stood up and took the podium and Ed settled his mind to listen to his son's speech, even though he knew what Aldon was going to say.

"Good evening, everyone," Aldon smiled. "And thank you for taking the time to be here tonight. To introduce myself well, I'm pretty sure everyone here knows me already," there were several chuckles in the audience. "But just in case there's someone new tonight, I'm Aldon Elric, that guy who's married to the head nurse and whose kids have taken up half the school." Another few chuckles followed this pronouncement. "But seriously, Resembool has been home to my family since well before Cassie and I actually came to live here, in my great-grandmother Rockbell's house, and it is a place that I have grown to love dearly. I've spent the last couple of decades here, on various committees, helping design and build nearly half of the new structures in town. I have always been glad to offer my ideas, and my opinions, and my sweat where needed to help Resembool grow and develop. But, there are a lot of things that make this town a wonderful place that shouldn't change either, and I want to make sure that while we may do things like pave more roads, and improve the electricity and water in town, and build the new city hall extension, that we don't lose sight of what makes our community special in the process."

Ed nodded, a little impressed with Aldon's public speaking ability. Not that he had ever thought his son wasn't a good speaker, but he'd never heard him give a formal speech.

"That said, the projects I would intend to focus on first, if I am elected mayor, are the building of a new school –or large addition to the old one, meant to accommodate the fact that in the past twenty years the number of children going through the school has effectively quadrupled. I would also like to see a decision made on the location of the new river bridge between here and the town of Calavelle, and come to a solution regarding the old common grazing grounds, and determine a proposal for future town growth to allow for the continuation of the existing agricultural base."

Ed tried to gauge the audience, and he thought they seemed at least as pleased with –if not more than in several cases- the previous speech. These were all issues that had a very immediate root in people's lives. The school, the grazing lands for sheep not being interfered with by thoughtless building. Ed had to admit the reason for the fences around his gardens was so that the occasional herd of sheep could wander across the Elric land unmolested, and without eating imported Xingese plants. The bridge to Calavelle would help increase travel time, but would also probably increase the amount of traffic going south-west of town as well.

Aldon didn't linger, and wrapped up the speech quickly after that. When he finished, the meeting was open for questions, and Ed sat and listened as both men were peppered with questions about their own platforms, and about their opinions and how they would handle issues the other man had brought up in his speech where there was no overlap.

When it was over, in true Resembool style, everyone was dismissed, though they planned to reconvene over at the old church which, to Ed's bewilderment at times, continued to sit quietly in its little spot on the corner of the main town square, and he suspected there might actually be services for anyone who cared to stop in. He hadn't been in there except for social gatherings since the time he had spoken with the minister after Pinako died.

"So how did I do?" Aldon asked as they walked across the green, falling a little behind the hungry crowd, all ready for coffee, cake, and conversation.

"Wonderful, honey," Cassie smiled at him.

"You definitely had the old town folk nodding," Ed added. "I don't think you'll have any trouble getting their votes honestly. And your reputation for being in on the progressive projects isn't hurting you, but it might get you votes with the folks who are for more changes as well. I'm not sure you'll have a chance with anyone who wants to try and turn Resembool into a bigger city." But then, that wasn't who they were aiming for as a target audience anyway. "Even I know better than to go hounding people to change their minds when I have almost no chance of success."

"Really, Ed? When did you finally learn that lesson?" Winry teased him, holding on to his arm as much for warmth as anything else.

Ed grinned. "When I gave up arguing with you on how to do the laundry."

**January 19, 1974**

:And that's when the sea rose up in anger and submerged the entire lower city of Malathos, right up to the palace,: Al swept his hands dramatically across the desk in front of him, using alchemy to pull the water from his glass through the air and across the room, where it landed in a bucket by the door. :Or at least,: he grinned at his students, who were watching wide-eyed. :That's how the legend goes.:

For a moment, there was silence, then a burst of scattered applause as wide-eyed teenagers stared half at him and half at the bucket where the water had gone, mesmerized as much by the use of alchemy as the dramatic retelling of a piece of Cretan history.

Thrakos Argyros raised his hand. :Excuse me, Professor Elric, but don't people think now that the sea's destruction of the lower part of Malathos was actually caused by the defensive army having alchemists?:

:Some do,: Al nodded. :And they may very well have, but even an alchemist can't permanently raise the height of the oceans, or change the tides. No one is powerful enough to alter the Earth's natural balance that much, and it would destroy that balance which is, of course, not how alchemy works when used properly. Now, for homework, I'd like you all to read the next two chapters in the book over the weekend, detailing the history of Malathos and its rulers.: At the slightly crestfallen looks, he smiled. :Because, at the beginning of February, we're going to be taking our first hands-on trip into the field, and we're going south to the ruins of Malathos themselves.:

Every face in the room went from glum to exuberant in a matter of moments, and this time there were several cheers. Minxia looked like she might bounce right out of her seat.

:Which means,: Al went on, holding up a hand, :That I expect all of you to do particularly well on this test, and on everything we're going to cover leading up to this trip. The other teachers won't let anyone go who isn't doing at least passing work in every class. We will be gone for over a week, and we will have to take assignments with us. Be grateful the other professors have agreed to be kind that week.:

:How kind?: Thrakos asked, and several students chuckled.

:They promised not to have tests that week, or the week you get back,: Al replied. Really, he knew they had done this because they knew the students wouldn't get all their studying done, and didn't want to have to deal with that many bad tests to grade. But he didn't need to tell his students that part. :So show them you deserve that reprieve, all right? There will be more information as we get closer to the trip. Now have a good weekend. You're dismissed.:

The students leapt to their feet as the bell rang, chatting excitedly, some about the trip and others' minds already elsewhere. Not that Al minded. While he'd never attended high school, he did have some memories of being a teenager –albeit very odd ones.

In the hallway, Al spotted Verno Palakis, the advanced mathemetics instructor, staying out of the way of Al's eager stream of students. :Hello Verno,: he smiled.  
The wispy-haired man smiled back, looking slightly bewildered. :I don't know how you do it, Alphonse. Did I really just hear cheering coming from your classroom? My students are never so enthusiastic. What's your secret?:

Al chuckled. :It's all in the delivery.:

* * *

:This is going to be so exciting!: Angelique grinned as she sat down next to Minxia and Thrakos in one of the many available study areas around campus. :I can't wait to go.:

:Well if someone doesn't get his grades up, his Amestrian teacher probably won't let him go with us,: Minxia looked at Thrakos. There was no way she was going to let him skip a study session. :How can you be getting a C in Amestrian?: Minxia shook her head at Thrakos, purposefully speaking her native tongue.

"The same way he's getting a C in Cretan Literature?" Angelique suggested with a chuckle as she looked down at her own Amestrian book.

Minxia never minded helping her friends study Amestrian. It was her first language, and she was acing Cretan, which made it easy to teach. Of course, she was almost fluent in Xingese, but she hadn't even attempted to teach them that! It was only the fact that her mother was willing to speak it at home that allowed her to learn and keep up with the language of her mother's side of the family

Thrakos grinned sheepishly, though he shot Angelique a dirty look. "I'm trying!" he wailed in Amestrian. "There are too many rules."

"You want rules, try Xingese," Minxia sighed, but smiled back at him. "Your whole family speaks Amestrian though, don't they?"

"Pretty much, and most of them speak Aerugean or Drachman… for political reasons." Thrakos did stick his tongue out at that last part. "Except Uncle Ziro. He says he learned them so he could talk to all the pretty foreign girls."

"Then how come it took your uncle decades to get one to marry him?" Angelique teased coyly. Her accent, Minxia noted, was actually decent, though Angelique had a much better grasp of grammar than Thrakos did, as well as the accent, and her grades showed it since she had a high B in the class. "And she turned out to be Aerugean anyway."

"Hey, Aunt Larise is pretty awesome," Thrakos retorted. "Not Ziro's fault he didn't meet her earlier."

"No one said it was," Minxia cut in on the discussion. Now was not the time to discuss the romantic intrigues of the Cretan Presidential family, about which she knew far more than she ever let on, especially to Thrakos, since she had heard tons of stuff bantered about at home when Grandpa Al and Ed and Winry and the older folks all started talking. Aunt Sara had joked once about how they had almost forced her into an arranged marriage with Ziro or his brother, though Minxia was fairly sure it _was_ a joke given the laugh it got out of everyone. She had not asked for clarification since she had supposedly been in her room studying at the time, not on the stairs listening to everyone chatting in her parents' living room.

Secretly, Minxia had at the time –being eleven- though that it sounded silly, but not too bad. After all, she'd seen pictures of Ziro Argyros. He was really good looking, even now. Though in his teens the picture made her blush a little.

She had never mentioned to Thrakos that she thought he looked a lot like his uncle.

"We should get back to work," Angelique agreed.

"I hate conjugating verbs…" Thrakos sighed but he did pick up his book and drop the subject.

"And what _do_ you like to conjugate?" Minxia asked.

"I thought I'd wait until I was older for that," Thrakos grinned back with such a wicked expression Minxia felt her ears go warm, and probably pink.

"You're awful," Minxia tossed a pencil at him, and it bounced off his nose. "Quit that or I'll transmute your eyebrows into caterpillars."

"Alchemy doesn't work like that. Even I know that much," Thrakos quipped.

"They'll look enough like caterpillars," Minxia threatened. "Green, and huge and furry, and all the girls will run away screaming, and the boys will never let you live it down."

"All right!" Thrakos sighed. "I give. You really are a minx aren't you?"

"Got a problem with that?" Minxia smiled.

"Nope, not a bit."

**January 21****st****, 1974**

The clock on his wall read one in the morning James Heimler realized as he squinted up through his glasses. The thirteen-year-old hadn't meant to stay up so late, but the book he was reading on steam-powered inventions had been utterly absorbing. He yawned, stretched, and looked to see how many pages he had left. Nearly a hundred. No, no matter how willing he was to be dragging on his feet tomorrow, he should really get sleep before school. He pulled out a bookmark and closed the book, setting it down on his bedside table.

He stood and went over to his door to turn off the light at the switch, when he heard a click downstairs that sounded like the front door. He paused before he realized that he hadn't heard Ian come home earlier from his date. It was probably him.

Then he heard footsteps in the hall, and stepped back from the slightly open door as he recognized his mother's stride as she moved down the hall, and then downstairs. His heart hammered a little, even though he doubted his mother would have been mad at him for not going to bed because he got lost in a book. It happened at least once a week. But Ian…. Coming home this late? He had guts… or a death wish.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" his mother's stern tone came from downstairs.

"One-ish," Ian replied. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"How considerate," Sara sniped. "Did you happen to remember that curfew is ten on a school night?"

"I lost track of time," Ian objected, though he didn't sound particularly upset. Given the warning tone in his mother's voice, James would have been ready to beg forgiveness. Ian was asking for trouble. "Dinner ran long and we went to the late movie. The pay phone by the theater didn't work either. Don't blow a gasket, Aunt Sara. I'm here. I'm safe. I haven't been mugged."

"Maybe you should be muzzled instead," Sara growled, though James was confused at the comment. "You look like a clown."

"Oh lay off," Ian retorted sharply. "We didn't do anything, if that's what you're asking. Geez, Aunt Sara, I'm almost seventeen, and it's not like I have anything major at school tomorrow. So I'm a little late, what's wrong with that?"

_Oh damn… have you lost your mind?_ James winced. This was not going to be good.

"You know very well what's wrong with that," Sara replied with a cold, hard edge to her tone that James knew meant it was just hiding the fire underneath. "You broke several house rules tonight. You were out over three hours late _on_ a school night, and you didn't call once to tell me the plans had changed or that there were delays, or even that you were all right. And I know for a fact there's a half-finished essay lying on your desk. That's not acceptable and I won't put up with it."

"What are you going to do?" Ian asked.

"Simple, you lose the right to be out of the house after dinner for the next week," Sara replied. "You can go to school. You can go to rehearsals and filming. That's it, and you will be driven there by me or Franz."

"But… there's a party at Lizzy's Friday night!"

"You should have thought about that before you decided to stay out late," Sara said without a hint of apology. "Now I recommend you go upstairs and finish your school work and get what sleep you can. I have plenty around the house that needs doing to keep you busy tomorrow evening."

There was a moment of dejected, angry silence, during which James was almost sure he could hear Ian's mind turning over downstairs. Then his cousin seemed to relent. "Yes, ma'am," he replied shortly, and James heard footsteps on the stairs.

Quickly he stepped back from the door again just in time to see Ian storm past –his mother's earlier comment clear in that he could see Ian's date must have been wearing red lipstick- and then he was gone again.

Before his mother could come up the stairs, James quietly shut his door and turned off the light, making do with the light from the moon outside to see his way back across the floor and climb into bed. He felt a little stunned by what had just transpired. Ever since he moved in, Ian had been a model student, or well enough for him; his grades weren't always perfect but he did his work to the best of his abilities, and James had always thought it was pretty cool how he could balance school and working as an actor.

But this was the first time he'd ever heard Ian outright defy James' mother like that. Normally he was helpful around the house. Sure they disagreed sometimes, but James didn't expect people to get along all the time. It seemed to happen a little more often of late, though it was normally small things, and normally if Ian was late it wasn't by more than a few minutes.

Sleep began to overtake him, and James rolled over, hearing Ian in the next room as his chair scraped and he appeared to be settling in to finish that essay. He felt a little guilty because he felt oddly torn. Part of him agreed with his mother; the part that always followed the rules, but part of him wondered just what it was like to stay out late with friends, go to the movies… make out with a girl. Ian wasn't just smart, or good looking, he was honestly popular without having to fake anything… and James –glasses, good-grades, nice guy James- couldn't help being curious, and a bit jealous.

He'd have to find a time when his mother wasn't around to ask Ian about it.


	4. Chapter 4

**January 25****th****, 1974**

Even in the middle of winter, Resembool had plenty of social gatherings and meeting places that kept people from getting bored in the evenings. This year that also meant a lot of chatter and, in the case of the two mayoral candidates, endless opportunities to socialize with the constituency and possibly win votes.  
Or at least, that was the commentary that Aldon had gotten from Ed at the very beginning of their strategy sessions. Tonight, Aldon wasn't particularly out to push his political agenda. He was happy to talk to anyone who wanted to talk, about any subject they wanted to bring up, but he was more enjoying the chance to chat with his neighbors and friends; business as usual.

And, for once, he didn't have most of the family with him. His parents were home tonight, and Cassie was home helping Callie with a school project. Reichart and Deanna rarely ventured out in the cold winter weather –and this winter was proving to be one of sleet and slush-, not with another little one on the way, and helping out on the cattle farm always meant early rising so they didn't usually stay up late.

That left Urey and Ted, who were both likely also eyes-deep in studies; Ted for school and Urey –who was almost always ahead- in alchemy.  
Aldon had enjoyed a long chat with Ollie –Kit was home with the kids, though Aldon suspected that might translate into 'Kit and the kids decided to go over to your house'– but Ollie had left a few minutes before, and Aldon was beginning to consider it time to go home.

Not that it was overly late. It was only about eight o'clock, but the kids had school in the morning, and he had new designs to finish and a meeting with Deanna's father about the new milking machines he had designed that they were ready to begin construction on. They couldn't replace all hands, but they could do the work of several with only one, and it was exciting to be giving that a try. It should cut milking time in half to start. Aldon was fairly certain he could get that down even more with fine-tuning adjustments.

He moved through the crowded room with his thoughts drifting to that project more than the conversations around him. Scanning the groups, Aldon felt he ought to make one last pass in case there was anyone else who wanted to talk, when he heard whispers, and noticed a couple of women looking furtively in his direction. Years of practice made it fairly easy to pick their voices out while he looked as though he was just refilling his apple cider.

"-real shame about the family."

"Indeed. Do you think he knows?"

"How could he not? The girl looks nothing like him. It's obvious."

"Maybe it's denial."

Aldon almost sputtered, the cider to his lips. He didn't like the sound of those mutterings. He managed to swallow the mouthful without spraying it everywhere. Were they talking about Callie? Of course she looked nothing like him!

"Maybe he's the forgiving sort."

"But how could she?"

His ears began to burn. It was Cassie they were slandering… more than him. Gathering as much calm as he could muster –at least on the outside- Aldon turned and casually made his way towards them through the crowd, making sure not to look like he was heading for them.

"Only a real hussy would do that… especially after five."

"Can we be sure they're all his too?" the second woman asked.

Aldon couldn't help but wonder if they were just truly this bad at whispering, or if they wanted others around them to hear. He wasn't a violent man, but the urge to smack those words out of their mouths hit with surprising force. They were questioning the parentage of his children, the loyalty and integrity of his wife, and his own mental faculties. The first two insulted him more than the last. How dare anyone say a word against Cassie, especially something so vile and uncalled for!

"Good evening, ladies."

They jumped, having apparently missed him when he had moved further into the crowd. Guilty looks turned to too-sweet smiles.

"Good evening, Mr. Elric," the first asked and, up close, Aldon could see that neither of them were ladies who had been in town for more than a few years. In fact, he was pretty sure the younger of the two –though neither was 'old'- had only been around a few months, since he couldn't recall her name right off. "How are you this evening?" she asked, straight-faced now, as if she hadn't just been saying truly horrible lies.

"Very well, thank you," Aldon replied. "Miss Rivers… Miss Turner," he said, the name finally coming to him. Neither was married, he remembered, though they were cousins. "Enjoying yourselves this evening?"

"Yes… thank you," the first –Miss Rivers- nodded. Of the two of them, she was the one who looked like she feared being found out.

Well, they would find quickly that Aldon could keep his temper better than his father, at least in public. "I'm glad to hear it. I'm afraid I need to be getting home. It's about bedtime, and I always like to tuck the younger ones in at night. They look forward to it." As he turned to go, his voice dropped lower as he commented very clearly to them both, "And for the record… my daughter is adopted."

The horrified looks on their faces as he walked away were worth it.

* * *

Despite the hour, Cassie was still bent over the kitchen table with Callista finishing up her diorama of insects of the Resembool ecosystem. Not that she ever minded helping her children with school work, but Callista's project had turned into quite the art exhibit, because her daughter had decided that everything had to be perfect, and the details were going to be amazing, no matter how much extra work it took. So every bug was hand crafted out of fast-dry modeling clay, and then painted with details. And there were over two dozen bugs, plus the background and the ground which included modeled puddles, leaves, flowers, and twigs.

As an artist however, Cassie could not have been prouder of her daughter's insistence on getting it just the way she wanted, because it was beautiful.

"One more and I think we're done, Callie," she smiled as she watched her little girl set a butterfly in place on a flower, with just enough glue to hold it there, and then held it while it began to dry.

"I hope Teacher likes it," Callista beamed as she sat still, waiting for glue to dry with impressive patience.

"I'm sure she'll be very impressed," Cassie replied honestly. They had been working on the project for three days in the evenings, so it was hardly as if she had procrastinated.

The door opened, and slammed with such force the entire floor underneath them shuddered.

Cassie looked up in time to see Aldon, with a thundercloud expression, stalk through the kitchen, rip open the fridge, shut it again, and vanish into the hall. A moment later the back door slammed, and she was sure he was heading for his workshop.

Callista sat there, a little wide-eyed.

Cassie stood. "When you finish, go ahead and get ready for bed all right? I'm going to go talk to your father."

* * *

Aldon barely heard the workshop door creak open and shut. Familiar footsteps told him without turning around that Cassie had followed him. Not that he had really expected any different, not the way he'd blown through the house before his temper could let itself loose.

"Don, is something wrong?" she asked, and he felt her slender arms slide around his shoulders.

He finished the bottle of ginger ale in his hand and sighed. He didn't want to tell her. It didn't matter that the rumor was stupid, and obviously false. The fact that women were bandying it about in a public setting made him furious, and he didn't want to have Cassie's feelings hurt by something so cruel. Worst off, he had no idea where the rumor had started. If he'd been thinking, he might have asked, but then he might have just looked guilty, or like he was trying to cover something up.

There were moments he hated politics.

"Aldon… I know you're upset. You had better tell me why."

He turned to look over his shoulder at her, and found her face by his ear. "You never used to be so demanding," he commented glibly.

"I've had years to learn," she replied smoothly, and then kissed his cheek. "Let me guess… you heard the rumor."  
The next words died on his lips as Aldon felt stunned. "You knew?" How could she be smiling at him, knowing what they were saying?

"Of course I know," Cassie replied with a casual little shrug. "Kit and I had a good laugh about it over coffee this morning with the other girls at the hospital. I mean really, Don, it's ludicrous. Anyone who's been around and pays attention knows Callie's not even really ours, and it's not like Callie isn't aware she's adopted, and she's never cared. No one's really going to believe it, not for long. I have several loud and staunch supporters in our community you know," she added, smiling more broadly. "Every mother whose baby I've helped deliver, or child I've soothed through an illness, or helped administer medications to… all our friends and neighbors. It doesn't bother me that there's a little mudslinging going on, and I don't want it to bother you. Not when it's something that doesn't hold any water at all."

Her common sense approach to it all made Aldon feel foolish at first, and the fury drained out of him as he stared at her bemused, and a little impressed. "You're something else, you know that?"

"That had better be a compliment," Cassie replied, her arms tightening around him.

"Always." Aldon turned the chair around and shifted them both so Cassie was in front of him, and he pulled her down onto his lap with a firm tug that made her chuckle. She felt good right there. "You're utterly irresistible."

"So you've told me," she replied, her tone softening even as there was a light flush of pleasure on her cheeks. After all these years, Aldon loved it when he could still make her blush. It wasn't nearly as easy as it had been when they were nineteen. "But I never get tired of hearing it."

"Good, because I never tire of failing to resist you." Aldon kissed her then, warmly and passionately, grateful as always that the thrill it brought him was just as deep and wonderful as when he had first fallen in love with her, if perhaps a trifle more tamed and controlled. A little…

When their lips parted, Cassie snuggled against him. "Don't let it get to you, Don. It'll all be over after the election, and everything will settle down again."

The thought that he should drop out of the running had crossed his mind repeatedly on the way home, but Aldon was still mildly surprised that Cassie had picked up on his unspoken thoughts. Though he wasn't sure why he hadn't just assumed she would know what he was thinking. "If you say so, it must be so," he smiled. Not that he wasn't going to make every effort to find out where the rumor had started and squash someone –or have them squashed by someone else, maybe Ollie- but he felt the knots in his shoulders relaxing, and his better frame of mine returning. "I love you. And you're right, I shouldn't let it get to me."

"After all," Cassie grinned at him playfully. "I'd be the one who should be more concerned if Callie *did* look like you."  
Her meaning caught him utterly off guard. "But I'd never-" he sputtered, staring at her. He'd never even thought about cheating on his wife!

"Now there's my, Don," she cut him off with another kiss.

He'd been played… but oh how oddly good it felt when his wife did it. If it were anyone else, Aldon was sure he would be furious.

**February 1st, 1974**

Al couldn't remember ever –forget the last time- being crammed on a bus with so many enthusiastic –and relatively boisterous- teenagers. Elicia had usually been the parent available to chaperone field trips, when Al was busy with missions.

Now he was beginning to understand why she'd been grinning at him when they got on the bus. It was his turn to try and keep them in line, reasonably calm, and well behaved. Something he would not have thought difficult with his particular group of students, especially not from a highly academic private school. He had not counted on the amount of boredom that could creep into even the most well-behaved and academic of students. Come to think of it, Al wasn't sure why he felt that way, given he'd raised his own children, and Ed and he had been far worse about sitting still for long periods, especially Ed. Though travel had been something they enjoyed as much for the trip itself as the destination a lot of the time. So maybe that was the difference.

The ride down along the coast, even on a bus, held a view that captured Al's attention and imagination and, several times, tweaked his memories of another time… and another life. Creta was a lively, vibrant, unique culture that Al always enjoyed, but sometimes he found himself catching sight of something that just reminded him exactly of Italy, or Greece… or the south of France. Not that he and Ed had spent much time on the French Riviera. Something about naked swimming had left them both a little uncomfortable at the time.

Now… well Al wouldn't mind finding a private beach and a little skinny dipping with Elicia, but that wasn't happening on this particular trip. Instead they were escorting teenagers –who would probably try, at least once, to sneak off for the same kind of trouble- to look at the ruins and artifacts that often set of Al's déjà vu the most. Funny how so short a time could leave so many indelible memories.

"What are you looking at, Grandpa?"

Al looked up to find Minxia turned around in her seat and watching him curiously. He smiled. "The ocean."

"I don't see much of anything out there," she admitted as she glanced that direction. "We've been passing the ocean for hours."

"I see a lot of things," Al countered. "Not just the waves, and the whitecaps, and the seagulls, and the sand, and the clouds… but adventure, and possibilities. Imagine being on a boat on that water, sailing across it to who knows where? Or putting on an air mask or using alchemy to keep air around you, and swimming down underneath it? There's a whole other world of possibilities under that ocean and on the other side."

Minxia's smile had broadened as she looked with excitement at what had, moments ago, likely appeared to be little more than yet more brilliant blue ocean. "We're going to get to go sailing and diving on this trip. You think we'll find something?"

"I'm fairly sure we will find _something_," Al chuckled. "I can't promise it will be particularly unique, though it should be fascinating." Even the experience would be that. Al hadn't ever done much under water diving at any depths. Sinking to the bottom of things as metal armor had never counted in his opinion. That was a sensation he had never quite forgotten either.

Minxia turned back around and Al heard the rustling of pages, and suspected his granddaughter had her nose in a book instead of out the window. Though given all of the students had been required to bring school work with them, he wasn't entirely surprised, even if Minxia was one of the few at the moment who seemed inclined to work on anything.

Al turned his attention back out the window as he considered everything to come, but didn't think about it too hard. The trip was planned down to the last detail, and all he really had to do for the moment was enjoy the last few hours of the drive.

* * *

:I can't believe you're studying,: Angelique commented, more amused and playfully exasperated than actually annoyed.

:Who says I'm studying?: Minxia commented, looking up from the booklet in her hands. :This is the brochure that talks about all the things going on in the area around the dig! As well as the highlights of the ruins as far as the tours know, but also talks about what they're doing. It's really fascinating stuff.:  
:Wait… there's other things around?: Angelique's interest was immediately piqued.

:Well yes!: Minxia rolled her eyes. :There's a town not too far away. I mean, it's not walking distance, but it's not so bad either. Just about a ten or fifteen minute drive.: She wasn't surprised Angelique was as interested in what the local shopping or night life might offer as their research trip, even though she knew Angelique really enjoyed archeological dig sites as much as Minxia did, even if they did have different interests. Angelique was as enamored with the beauty and jewels and artwork that might be found in a dig, as Minxia was with rock and carving and minerals and alchemical elements as much as she was with the clues to history.

:So we should all go hang out some night,: Thrakos suggested, poking his head over the seat in front of them and leaning on his elbows on top.

:Not you too,: Minxia groaned. :What about research? And scuba diving? And sailing?:

:Oh we'll have plenty of time for that,: Thrakos laughed. :But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun too, Minx! I mean look at that ocean? Don't you want to try surfing those waves? And we can dive for fun too, not just class.:

Minxia felt a twinge of envy at the carefree note in his voice. And sighed, and smiled up at her friend. :Oh I know… and yeah, of course we'll have a good time. But I'm looking forward to the work too! Is that so wrong?:

:Nah,: Thrakos shook his head, his dark hair falling in his eyes. :I bet we discover something fabulous on this dig.:

:Something the archeologists have missed?: Angelique asked, teasing.

:Sure,: Thrakos nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. :After all, we're all great talents, and a fresh set of eyes!:

:And muscles,: Minxia pointed out. :We'll be digging till we're sore. If we find anything, it will be because they worked us harder than we've ever worked before.:

Thrakos stuck his tongue out at her before he sat down again. :Spoil sport!:

But Minxia's mood wasn't dampened. She was too keyed up to be bored like some of the other kids on the bus. Miles and miles of potential adventure unrolled before them, the real thing, not just a museum, but a real dig like she hadn't seen in years. How could she possibly not be completely absorbed in learning everything she could about the half sunken city of Malathos?

She was so absorbed in the history of the area that it was several seconds after the bus stopped before Minxia became fully cognizant of the fact that they were no longer moving, and the chatter had picked up, and everyone was starting to get up from their seats.

:Settle down everyone!: Grandpa Al's voice filled the bus, and the chatter minimized as people put up their stuff and pulled down bags. :And remember the rules. I don't want to hear that anyone did something that I have to send them home for. The Archeologists working this dig have been kind enough to let you come and take part in the work and learn from them. Let's show them gratitude and respect.:

Minxia would be more than happy to do both, as soon as she actually got to meet them! She tossed her bag over her shoulder and shuffled through the narrow bus aisle, crammed between her classmates, until she joined the ones nearly falling out the front of the bus onto the strip of road along the sand beyond.

It was late afternoon, and the sun was low, but not touching the horizon yet, with a couple of hours left of light. Minxia really hoped that meant they weren't done working for the day. Yes, it was lighter longer this much further south than home, but not by a huge amount. The brilliant red and gold light glinting off of a jagged, broken pillar nearly took her breath away. For a moment, the world faded into myth and history as Minxia looked down the hill and out across the shattered remains of time poking out of the sand, backlit by sparkling ocean.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Grandma Elicia asked softly from behind her.

Minxia nodded. "It's amazing."

Soon they were all shuffling down a long path between the dunes, sinking from the road down towards what looked like an oddly misplaced village; modern if distinctly beach-style cabins, set in circular clusters, near the Easternmost side of the ruins, farthest from the sea and closest to the road.

There were three clusters of cabins, about five or six each, and a larger one in the middle of the three circles where they almost intersected, which Minxia took to be the main offices, or a dining hall. It was large enough it might be both, but she wasn't willing to bet on it just yet. They had been told there would be lodging, so she wondered how many of those cabins were empty, and how many of them would fit in each one.

Her curiosity about them was not immediately sated however. Though she didn't really mind when she saw the cluster of people waiting for them!

Her Grandpa and Grandmother were speaking with a gentleman in faded blue jeans and a t-shirt, though he wore a more rugged shirt over it, open at the moment, in khaki. The man was Cretan, hale and strong, but Minxia guessed him to be fairly middle-aged, about her father's age maybe. He certainly had the healthy, tanned look of someone who spent a lot of time out under the sun.

:This is Doctor Damon Filios,: Al introduced him to the group of students. :He is the Lead Archeologist on the Malathos dig, and it is by his invitation that you are here.:

There was a loud chorus of thank yous and clapping from the students, which Minxia joined in with great enthusiasm.

They were then quickly introduced to Doctor Damon's –as he said they could call him- other lead staff on the dig. Two other major archaeologists, both nearly the same age as Doctor Damon, though the woman looked several years younger. Then there were the college students also here working on the dig, as they were majoring in archaeology. The two of them, with whom the high schoolers would be doing a lot of work, were Rakaela Minette and Paoulo Tikkon. Paoulo, who was a college sophomore, nineteen years old, had a smile that even made Minxia feel slightly warm for a moment, though the look on Angelique's eyes said her friend found him even more attractive than Minxia did. He was okay… but he wasn't an ancient city!

Unfortunately Rakaela, with her dark southern skin, darker curly hair, and toned figure seemed to have the same effect on the boys.

:Stop drooling.: Minxia smacked Thrakos upside the head with the booklet she'd been reading earlier.

Thrakos rubbed the back of his head. :Geez… a guy's allowed to look at people he's going to be working with, isn't he?:  
:If you look like a hungry puppy, she's not going to take you seriously.:

:I wasn't drooling!:

:Like I believe that.: Minxia snorted, then relented at his sour expression. :I'm kidding. Come on, or we'll miss getting good bunks.:

After introductions, they were led to the group of cabins left open for the twenty students that had come on this trip. As it turned out, they were barracks style, with bunk beds, five to each cabin, and a single bed in each for the chaperones.

So that was why she'd heard Grandpa grumbling to Grandma about the sleeping accommodations. Minxia felt a little sorry for them, having to sleep separate for the whole trip, but she figured it was probably better to have them in there, especially with the guys!

Minxia took a top bunk, above Angelique, and they claimed one right by the windows looking out onto the ruins themselves instead of inside towards the other cabins. Minxia couldn't stop grinning as they rejoined the boys outside for what was going to be a cursory tour of the dig site before dinner!

She suspected it would have waited until after if it wasn't already getting noticeably darker.

It proved to already be a fairly extensive site. While they hadn't started digging down around _every_ pillar or chunk of ancient wall, there were a lot of areas where digging was actually taking place, and several more archaeologists than they had met. Not that they were working now, but it was clear from the number of cabins and the sheer amount of available tools and ground covered that this was not a small operation. Minxia wasn't surprised when Doctor Damon –who was giving them the tour himself- informed them that there were fifteen archaeologists working on the Malathos site, and nearly sixty more support staff made up of college students, assistants, historians, researchers, and a few cooks and office staff, other more normal staff that helped keep everything in order. Though most of them were just as familiar with the work, and in the case of the primary cook, he was actually a retired archeologist.

Minxia found herself looking forward to meeting all of them, but the people were far less interesting at the moment, now that she was down among the pillars, which towered above her, reaching towards the sky, their broken fingers stretching for some unseen goal, but –broken- never making it. It was a sad, forlorn, yet majestic image. Minxia found herself jotting down notes and ideas even as she walked, scribbling them in a notebook. She was rarely inspired so much. She might, she thought, actually try putting the scene into poetic form later.

They meandered their way through the site, avoiding the deeper holes, some fifty feet long and twenty or more wide, until they came down to the beach, where the nearby cliff simply stopped, and the ruins seemed to march right down into the ocean, until the last visible pillars looked more like tiny islands, and then they vanished beneath the waves.

This time, she couldn't blame Thrakos for staring, because she was too, at the sheer beauty, and magnitude, and ancient grace of their surroundings. She felt a little warm inside when he finally opened his mouth and spoke.

:This is the coolest place _ever_.:


	5. Chapter 5

**February 3****rd****, 1974**

There was something terribly indulgent about getting up after the sun, Edward thought as he lay snuggled deep in the warm blankets that covered the bed he and Winry shared in their house in Resembool. It was a warm, floating, almost bodiless feeling to awaken in that position in which he fell asleep and lay most comfortably; perfect equilibrium where everything was just the right temperature, blood flow was optimal and nothing felt like it was losing circulation.

The downside to awakening late, in that particular position, and having that realization, was that he was awake. With that came the other sensations that heralded it being well beyond time to be up; a full bladder, and a growling stomach.

Ed poked his head out of the blanket burrito into which he had cocooned himself, and rolled free, almost enjoying the bracing chill of the cooler air outside the blankets that filled the large house in winter. It woke him up fully, and he pulled his thick bathrobe and slippers on over his shorts before padding out into the hall, stopping by the restroom, and then down and around to the stairs.

Hot coffee and cinnamon rolls were waiting, steaming fresh, on the dining table, even though the clock said it was nearly eleven in the morning.

Winry poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled. "Well I see you're finally up. I was beginning to think you were going to lie around in bed all day."

"A man can do what he wants on his birthday," Ed argued congenially as he picked up one of the sweet, sticky delights and took a bite, savoring the tongue-tingling flavor as he chewed. Then he crossed the rest of the way to the kitchen and kissed his wife on the cheek.

"Within reason," Winry countered, though she turned her head and kissed him back, catching his lips with hers.

"Who needs reason?" Ed asked, pulling her close for a more passionate embrace that lasted until his stomach started complaining audibly that one bite of a cinnamon roll did not breakfast make!

"Well apparently you still need food," Winry teased softly, breaking away. "And it's a good thing you're up. I won't have you missing the party later."

"Do we have to have a party?" Ed asked, feeling the first sour twinge in an otherwise perfect day so far.

"You like parties," Winry argued, as she had for the past few weeks. "And it's just family. Do you really not want to celebrate your birthday?"

"I didn't say that." Ed just didn't really want to have to admit that he was seventy-five, even as he was also grateful to have lived so long, and to be in as good of health as he was. That and to still have his hair, lighter but still gold, and thicker than most. If he had ever started going bald, he was pretty sure he would have used alchemy to force his hair to grow back in! Vain it might be, but he supposed _at his age_ –he shuddered as the words crossed his mind- he had earned a little vanity.

"Then enjoy your right to gripe, but get it out of the way before everyone gets here later," Winry went back to working on food that Ed was sure was meant for the party later.

"I will," Ed replied with a cheeky grin, and finished off his cinnamon roll in two more bites. "Anything you want in town? I thought I'd go for a run."

"Your idea of a lazy day is lost on me," Winry chuckled even as she shook her head with a knowing expression. "And yes, if you really mean that offer, I have a few small things I'd like picked up." She handed him a little roll of paper that unfolded into a small list… about fifteen items long.

At least none of them were large or heavy. Ed smiled. "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

* * *

There was nothing chillier than the Cretan ocean in the morning in February, Minxia decided by the end of their first lesson with the diving equipment the next morning. Even so far south, the ocean was cold, and in the morning it just seemed even colder. Still, she couldn't deny that the lesson had been a lot of fun, and really interesting, even though most of what they had done was learn all the parts of the equipment, how to put it on, how to take it off, and how to check and make absolutely certain that each part was working properly. Then they had been allowed to get in the water off shore and play around in a secluded cove, getting the feel for swimming with it on and breathing under water.

:That was so cool,: Thrakos grinned as he flapped his way out of the water and joined her on the sand as they all started to get out of the equipment. They would have time to shower and dry off before lunch, and then the afternoon was going to be spent shadowing archaeologists and doing some digging and exploring of their own.

:I'm glad we're going to get to do that again,: Minxia agreed, smiling at him. Thrakos' good mood was always infectious, whether it was a day where that was easy to have happen or not. Today, it was easy. :Underwater everything is so… :

:Fabulous? Amazing? Wet?: Thrakos teased.

:I was going to say mesmerizing, and kind of ethereal,: Minxia corrected with a little sniff, though she couldn't fake anything other than joy for long, given she was feeling giddy with the pleasure that weightlessly drifting through the ocean water and seeing everything below so clearly had given her. It was a whole other world down there, and one she found herself eager to return to and explore more fully.

:Far better words than mine.: Thrakos nodded.

:Silly.: Minxia resisted the urge to smack the back of his head with her goggles, which were now dangling from her left hand by the strap. :It is fabulous and amazing and wet too!: Very wet. Oddly enough, she hadn't really noticed while they were down there. It was only now, dredging water behind them as they dripped their way up the beach, that she really felt wet. They hadn't been in full diving gear either, given they weren't going very deep. Just their swim suits and the breathing apparatus, and fins. Her single-piece dark purple suit now clung, and had bits of sand on it. :Now… for a shower.:

:Because we're not nearly wet enough,: Thrakos agreed, chuckling.

This time, Minxia did hit him with her goggles.

* * *

Her good mood was not quite as prevalent after lunch, as they set out following the archaeologist to whom she and Thrakos, as partners, had been assigned for the day. Not that she wouldn't normally have been thrilled to be assigned to the female college student, Rakaela Minette. There was dozens of questions she wanted to ask the older girl, and did ask, with every spare moment they had as they walked out to where they would be working that afternoon; about college, and majoring in archaeology and about Malathos and the dig. And, to her credit, Rakaela smiled and answered every question Minxia had with pleasant patience and enthusiasm.

The only thing that soured it at all for Minxia, was the fact that she was pretty sure Thrakos was more interested at looking at Rakaela than listening to her, and she had to admit –at least to herself- that it bothered her. If, for no other reason, than her good friend looked like an idiot every time he started to get that glazed expression that said he wasn't listening anymore, just being a guy.

Minxia didn't think she wanted to know what Thrakos was actually _thinking_ about the older girl.

:And that's how I ended up getting into archaeology,: Rakaela finished up her story as they arrived at the edge of one of the shallower, but longer trenches dug into the sandy soil below a series of shorter pillars set close together around what, Minxia could now see, was an old inner courtyard, of what she guessed might have been the house of some well off craftsman, or minor noble. :So here we are,: she grinned and gestured to the site. :Home sweet home.:

:Do you spend most of your time in this one spot?: Thrakos finally asked a question.

:I've been working on this particular location since the start of Fall Term last year,: Rakaela admitted as they all dropped into the trench, which was only about four feet deep, but ran the length of the court yard and about a quarter of its width.

:What have you found?: Minxia asked curiously, her eyes going to every crack and crevice, even though she knew that there wasn't likely to be much that was out in the open. Though she did see a couple of spots covered by what looked like protective sheeting.

:Oh it's been a treasure trove,: Rakaela grinned as she led them over to the first covered area and removed the cloth to reveal a vessel, half buried, and cracked, but partially excavated. :Oil jug,: she informed them. :What's really interesting is that it doesn't seem to have held normal lamp oil. The stains are wrong in here,: she gestured carefully to the interior part that hadn't filled entirely.

Minxia and Thrakos took turns staring at the dull marks in the fired clay, though Minxia had to admit she couldn't see what Rakaela was talking about entirely, other than the definite discoloration. She had no idea what that specifically meant… yet. :What makes them wrong?: she asked.

:They're too acidic for the usual oil,: Rakaela explained. :It's eaten away a little too much, and the shade if this were cleaned up, would be a little darker than it should be as well.:

:What does that mean then?: Thrakos asked curiously.

:It means that the oil in this jug… might have been cooking oil,: Rakaela chuckled. :Or a mix of oil and vinegar, pre-done to make cooking faster. Or it could have been a hair treatment.:

:That's a lot of hair gel,: Thrakos grimaced comically.

At that, Rakaela laughed. :Yes, it would be, wouldn't it? But you never know really, without a lot of educated deduction. I've found a few other things that do indicate that this courtyard was very heavily used for a variety of reasons, and I suspect that, if we got to the center there,: she gestured towards the middle of the area, where nothing had yet been dug out, :we would find a well or a pool of some sort. The items all seem to indicate bathing and cooking, and things that would require a clean water source.:

Now this was fascinating. Minxia listened attentively and looked as Rakaela showed them a broken ladle, in three pieces, and what looked like half of a brass hair comb. There was even a small wheel that Rakaela suggested might have belonged to a children's toy. It looked just like the cart wheels of the time, but was small enough Minxia could hold it in her palm.

She could almost imagine the family that might have lived there, going about their evening routine, the way her family did almost every night at home.

:I've found more than this,: Rakaela admitted. :But a lot of it is smaller fragments, and most of it is now labeled and stored, or shipped back to the university for further study.:

:Do you think we'll find anything interesting today?: Minxia asked eagerly, her earlier agitation having evaporated with the commencement of actual archeological discussion. It helped that Thrakos was now looking with great interest at the little cart wheel.

:We might,: Rakaela grinned as she opened up her tool kit. :Though I can't promise anything. Sometimes we dig and don't find anything for a week or more at a time. Other days are really exciting and we find three or four new artifacts. That is, if you find partial dishware and household items exciting.:

:No weapons or armor or anything?: Thrakos asked, and Minxia suspected he was thinking of the wars and heroes they had read about.

:Oh a little of that,: Rakaela nodded. :Just not in this house here I've been working in.:

Thrakos looked mildly disappointed. Minxia smiled and gave him a playful shove as she picked up a small hammer and the little pick Rakaela offered before the college girl gestured to the spot she wanted Minxia to work on. :Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find _something_.:

* * *

The brisk run warmed Ed up quickly, and by the time he arrived in the small –but still growing- downtown area of Resembool, he was feeling quite warm enough in his red sweats and was glad he hadn't worried about a coat. He broke back down to a walk as he strolled into town and pulled out Winry's shopping list. Not that those were the only things he planned on shopping for, since he had a few things he was looking for himself, but he wanted to make sure he finished her shopping and got back to the house in time to shower and change into something else before family arrived.

Most of the list was last minute party supplies or things they needed for the house; a light bulb for the downstairs bathroom, fresh mint leaves –hard to get this time of year, but doable thanks to a local hot house- for iced or hot mint tea, more coffee filters for the coffee pot, a new tin of cocoa for the grandkids, apples –because all the rest had gone into pie, Ed would bet-, and so the list went, a mismatch of little homey items that Ed suspected wouldn't seem out of place anywhere. No auto-mail parts. No alchemy supplies. Not on this trip. He could have been some normal, average guy out for a stroll in his cozy little town.

There was a time in his life where he would have killed –figuratively anyway- to be that normal, happy guy. Now, Ed was glad to be happy, but he was also glad he wasn't really average.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Elric!"

Ed looked sideways and saw Marilyn Vicars, one of Reichart and Deanna's friends, standing in the doorway of the flower and gift shop. "Good afternoon," he smiled as he turned, shopping bags still over his shoulder, and approached the shop. "How are you today?"

"Well," she beamed, cheeks pink in the chill as she smiled brightly. "If a little chilly. Doing a bit of shopping?"

"There's always shopping that needs doing." Ed shrugged. "How's Steve?" he asked after her fiancé.

"Good," she practically beamed. "And the plans are almost finished. Good thing, with only a couple of months left. You will be at the wedding, won't you? You and Mrs. Elric both."

"Of course," Ed promised. There was no way they'd miss it. On top of being family friends –and it being Resembool- Steve was one of Winry's auto-mail patients going back to the day he'd lost part of a foot in a mining accident. Thankfully, he had given up on being a miner after that, and had spent the last three years working at the local auto-mechanic's shop instead. "We wouldn't miss it for all the tea in Xing… or an auto-mail convention," he added, chuckling.

"Now I know we'll see you," Marilyn chuckled. "That's a very serious promise."

"We're looking forward to it," Ed smiled back. "Though if I don't get home with this stuff, Winry might make me limp there," he teased.

"Don't go yet, I have something for you," and she left Ed wondering what it could possibly be, standing on the chilly stoop, until she returned a minute later with a very small bush in a pot; with dark leaves, but no discernible flowers. It looked familiar, given Ed had seen it growing on some of the higher hills in the mountains, but he couldn't recall exactly what it was called.

He also wondered why the plant was for him, but he took it. "Thank you. What is it exactly?"

Marilyn chuckled. "It's a mountain laurel. You know, it has those pink blossoms that turn white in the spring about the time the snow melts? It's for you. It's a birthday present."

Ed did not ask how she knew it was his birthday. He would bet his arm Reichart and Deanna had mentioned it. "Well thank you," he said again. "I think I know just where to plant it then. We don't have one in the garden yet. So, I know giving people plants is supposed to have meanings… but I can't ever get them all straight. What do laurels mean?" He knew about roses, but not much of the rest.

"Laurels represent success," Marilyn informed him. "Also renown and ambition, but in this case, it's a blessing of success in anything you do for the coming year."

Not that Ed couldn't lay some claim to all three. He chuckled. "Well then, maybe we ought to see about buying one for Aldon. He's the one running for office."

"I'm sure you'll find something to succeed at," Marilyn replied cheerfully. "Have a good day!"

"You too!" Ed, now holding the small dark-leafed bush in his other arm, headed back out into the street, feeling in a particularly good mood, and beginning to actually look forward to that evening's party. Family, presents, good food… there wasn't really anything not to like if he decided to be optimistic about it. At least he was alive and healthy to enjoy it.

Ed still had one more stop he needed to make, and that was the nearest convenience store. It only took a couple of minutes to pick up the last things on the list; dental floss and aluminum foil.

On the way back he passed the pet store window. Of course, what passed for a pet store in Resembool was more of a repository for extra puppies and kittens from the farms that did not need them, or wanted to spread the genetics around a bit. It also had the occasional batch of baby ducklings, turtles, an imported bird or two, and plenty of aquarium fish (with little electric heating elements for winter that kept them from freezing, which Ed thought were rather clever). Sometimes there was a rabbit or guinea pig.

Today, Ed found himself amused by the gamboling of a pair of ferrets. But it was not those that held his attention as, on a whim, he went inside to poke his nose around and see what was inside.

It was a puppy. A very large puppy, already at least twenty pounds, but it looked like a polar bear more than a dog at first. It had thick, pure-white fur, save for a light brown badger-mark on his left ear. He had huge feet, and relatively short down ears, and deep brown eyes. He was not the only puppy in the enclosure, but he was the largest, and the quietest. He just looked up at Ed soulfully as the others tried to swarm the gate for attention.

"Hey, Max," Ed called out to the store owner.

Old Max –Ed tried not to think about the fact that Max was only three years older than Ed and had teased him about his height in grade school- limped out from the back room carrying a bag of cat food. "Hey there, Ed. Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah. What's the story on that pup? The big one." Ed pointed to the back of the pen. "I don't remember seeing him in here before, but he doesn't look like he's all that new."

"Oh he's been in here a couple of weeks," Max replied, looking at the one Ed meant. "Came off a farm up the other side of the pass a ways. Cretan Mountain breed they said. Big litters, but they sold off the rest themselves save this one. Not sure why, frankly. Best behaved puppy I ever saw. Quiet. Friendly. Some hogwash about some minor conformation flaw and his seeming too mellow for sheep work. They use them to keep an eye on sheep, so it's no wonder someone around here finally bought a pair. Pretty as you can imagine; big size though. I saw the male when I picked up the pup from them. Had to have been near on a-hundred-and-fifty pounds."

That dwarfed even Pir and Daia, and they hadn't been small. Ed let out a low whistle. "You said he's friendly. He just kind of sits back there though. Does he like the kids at all?" He knew there were kids with their noses at the windows and cages in here every day of the week.

"Oh he loves them, when he can get to them," Max replied with a nod. "For all his size, poor fella won't push the other pups around to get at them though. Takes it himself, and just waits his turn."

"Sounds like Al," Ed chuckled. "Can I pet him?" He wasn't even sure what made him ask, other than it was a whim, but there was something about those eyes that called to him too, and Ed had always been a dog person.

"Go right ahead." Max grinned knowingly as he came over and slipped through the gate, waiting through puppies until he reached the white pup and hefted him up, bringing him out of the pen. He set the pup down on the floor. "Careful, or you're going to wind up with a new friend."

Ed chuckled, but wondered what Winry would do if he brought home a dog unannounced. He crouched down and scratched the pup's ears. "Hey there, fella."  
Almost immediately, as if smart enough to know the other puppies couldn't get between him and his goal, the white pup waddled right over and licked Ed's hand, and leaned into it for petting, obviously enjoying the attention. Well he might be quiet and shy, but he wasn't hesitant!

_Winry is going to kill me. _

* * *

Alphonse couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed himself this much. It had been a long time since he'd been able to enjoy discovery for the sake of discovery, without the pressure of something looming over his head forcing him to get through a mission, and yet was also more exciting than sitting at home going through research material in the safety of his house.

With all of the students paired off and assigned to professionals, he roamed the entire dig site, with Elicia at his side, poking his nose into everybody's research, and looking at a wide variety of fascinating artifacts. They had also spent a couple of hours digging themselves, and unearthed a pair of very old, but very lovely, earrings made from pearls and sea shell. Elicia's look of excitement as she very carefully used the brush to clear away the dirt and get them free was all it took to set Al's heart pounding. He was so very glad she had come with him.

Not that they had made the only discovery. Several of the teams their students were on had them working on new areas, or on detail work on items that were not easily broken, and two or three items had been unearthed or cleared of rubble that afternoon, much to the excitement of Al's students. He loved watching their enthusiasm for what was otherwise very tedious work. Far more tedious, he would have thought, than the assignments they groaned over back at school. But here they were, lying under the warm sun, not quite baking on the sand, working delicate things out of the earth. He was pretty sure they would not have been as excited about the half of a plate that came out of the old kitchen area of one house if it had just been sitting in a cabinet.

"We should check on Minxia and Thrakos," Elicia suggested as the late afternoon sun dipped down near the ocean. They hadn't made it out to that dig all afternoon, though it was furthest from the main portion of the site, and Al hadn't wanted to appear like he was lurking over his granddaughter's shoulder. Especially not with Thrakos around. Al had nothing against the boy, but given his uncle's reputation… and his own nature and how close he had gotten to Minxia, well he was trying very _very_ hard to keep any grandfatherly over-reactions in check.

"Yes, we should," Al agreed, dusting himself off and heading up the hill towards Rakaela's dig. "I wonder if they've found anything interesting."

"If they had, I think we'd have heard the shout of joy all the way down at the cabin," Elicia chuckled.

It was a bit of a trek, but the exertion wasn't enough to make Al so much as pant. A fact that made him rather pleased.  
As the site came into view, Al looked down into the pit, and found all three of the younger people intensely huddled around something that Minxia was staring at with such intensity Al was almost surprised the item didn't pop out of the earth from fear… or with alchemy. "So what's so exciting?" he asked by way of announcing their presence.

All three bodies jumped, and Rakaela looked up. :Professor Elric! You have great timing. Minxia thinks we've uncovered something related to alchemy.:

:Up here?: Al's interest was piqued. He slid down into the ditch and then held out his arms to help Elicia hop down as well.

Thrakos nodded, though Minxia never looked away from whatever was out of sight in front of her. :We were digging around near this door here,: he gestured towards two broken off stacks of bricks. :And found this box. At least, it looks like a box.:

As Al came around the side he could finally see what had them all so excited. It did, indeed, look like an alabaster box of some sort, not very large, but intricately carved. The carvings, he noted, did not look like transmutation circles, not even the type he was used to seeing in Creta.

:So why do you think it's related to alchemy?: Elicia asked.

:Because right over here by the edge,: Minxia poked at one exposed corner with her brush, :This word at the end looks like the end of the Cretan phrase for alchemy they used that far back, which is about making change.:

:And it doesn't mean money,: Thrakos commented.

Al squinted at the slightly marred words, but could almost immediately see what Minxia meant. :Good point. So whatever is in the box would be valuable either way, if they protected it with stone.:

Minxia nodded. :I was thinking… of trying to remove it with alchemy. It's pretty tightly wedged and it will take days to dig out, maybe weeks otherwise. I really want to see what's in it though!:

Rakaela chuckled. :Impatience isn't really part of the game. But, do you think it could be removed safely with alchemy?: She looked at Al, clearly just as eager as the rest of them.

Al inspected the box and the ground around it for a few moments before nodding. :Sure. The box seems sound enough. If we did it slowly and carefully, there shouldn't be any problem.: He looked at Minxia. :Go for it.:

:Wait, me?: Minxia squeaked. Clearly she had thought that Al would take over and do the transmutation himself.

:Of course you. It's your discovery.: Al stepped back out of the way. :And it's a very simple transmutation.: He had no doubt that Minxia could manage it, though he was pleased that she hadn't just leapt in and done it without a professional opinion. Ed would probably have done that at her age, without necessarily checking to make sure the box wouldn't just split open, or the ground around them fall to pieces because of some unforeseen weakness.

Minxia nodded, and turned back to the box, looking at it again critically before pulling a stylus out of her pocket and etching a simple transmutation circle into the sandy clay soil around the box. Then she placed her hands on the circle, closed her eyes, and concentrated.

Moments later the entire area glowed blue, and the box slid slowly out of the ground, landing in Al's outstretched arms; a grab he almost regretted as the small, but very heavy, box, tugged hard at his shoulders. :Good work,: Al grunted as he set the box on the ground.

Minxia beamed, but turned and began brushing the remaining dirt off the rest of the cover. Now free of the earth, it was clear that the phrase carved in the top of the box was the one Minxia had suspected, and Al would not be at all surprised to find some sort of alchemical artifact inside.

:What do you think is in there?: Thrakos asked excitedly.

:We won't know until we open it,: Al chuckled. :Go ahead, Minxia.:  
His granddaughter beamed, and then reached out and hefted the lid off the box very carefully, in case whatever was inside was more delicate than the box protecting it.

The fading sunlight fell across several clay tablets, inscribed with words, still fresh and crisp, though cracked in places.

Al read the ancient text with little trouble. :It looks like the notes of an alchemist,: he commented, his own heart beating excitedly at the prospect. Not that he expected to find anything hitherto unknown in the work of the earliest alchemists. But that did not make the discovery any less interesting.

:But I thought the people who lived in this house were merchants, or nobles,: Minxia pointed out.

:Your mother is a Xingese Princess and you need to ask that?:

Minxia looked at her grandmother, and her cheeks flushed slightly. :Okay, I see your point. So maybe someone in the household was an alchemist, or they could have been protecting it for a friend. Who knows. Still, this is fabulous!: To her credit she did not attempt to pick them up.

:We should take these back down to the camp,: Rakaela said. :We need to catalog everything and there are better tools down there for studying them without accidentally destroying them.:

:Which would be a real shame,: Al agreed as Minxia put the cover carefully back on the box. :And it's getting late. We should head back.:

:I'll carry the box,: Thrakos offered, clearly eager to do something other than sit and watch.

:It's all yours,: Al gestured, resisting the urge to take it himself. Thrakos wasn't known for being clumsy, and he was sure it would be just fine. :Just don't break anything.:

:Right,: Thrakos grimaced as he carefully hefted the box into his arms and stood. :No pressure.:

* * *

There were certainly worse ways to spend a birthday than stuffed full of homemade apple pie and watching the new puppy frolic around the living room with the grand-kids It was pretty hysterically really, Ed thought, to watch Urey and Ted and Callie all rolling around on the floor like five year olds, getting licked and bounced on. Okay, so Callie was only eight, but it was still quite a sight! Little Rhiana kept toddling away from Reichart's arms towards the pup, but her father wasn't letting her get too close. Not because they were worried about the puppy doing anything that might hurt her; so far he didn't even mouth much and he was very cautious for a pup, but because she was not quite two years old herself yet, and still not entirely aware of her own strength. Though thankfully she and the puppy were near enough of a size for the moment.

"What are you going to call him, Dad?" Aldon asked as they sat at the table after dinner, watching the playful scene.

"I was thinking of Mal," Ed replied.

"Why Mal?" Aldon asked.

"Cause he looks like a giant marshmallow," Ed grinned.

Aldon snickered. "Well that is a pretty huge marshmallow," he looked at the fluffy puppy licking Ted's face on the floor. "I bet he sheds marshmallows."

"And I know who'll be vacuuming them up and brushing out his coat regularly," Winry commented as she came out of the kitchen with after-dessert coffee and tea on a tray. She set the tray on the table.

"Yes, dear," Ed grinned up at her, and stole a kiss. He was extremely grateful that Winry had taken the unexpected new family member well. She hadn't even hit him. Actually, he got the feeling she was just as fond of the puppy as he was. Mal had snuggled up to her immediately, and his gentle nature and good temperament were definitely endearing.

Winry smiled back. "I do love those words."

"I know you do." Which was why Ed made sure to use them every so often instead of making a sarcastic remark. A man had to learn at least a few things after fifty years of marriage. It was really a year for milestones, and this party was as much about that as his birthday. Not that there was any huge gift Ed could have given Winry that would have meant nearly as much to him as an entire lifetime together.

Aldon was grinning at them.

"Quit smirking," Ed growled good-naturedly at his son. "That's an order."

Aldon laughed. "And only because it's your birthday, I'll listen."

"Great present," Ed teased.

"I thought so." Aldon smiled.

Actually Ed had gotten quite a nice pile of gifts from various members of the family, though it was only the Resembool crowd who were in town at the moment. And Aldon's had been particularly clever; an automated coffee machine he had invented himself that was far superior and faster than the way Ed had been making coffee most of his life, and better than the old coffee makers he'd seen at HQ over the years. He suspected Aldon could make quite a bit of money marking those too, and had already suggested as much.

Ted and Urey had worked together to transmute a particularly awesome porch swing for two, which had been a joint present for birthdays and anniversary alike. It was a lovely piece, of hardwood and wrought-iron, altered and treated to avoid rusting and rotting. They had already installed it on the side porch with a view of the Xingese gardens and the swimming pool.

Reichart and Deanna's present had been a gorgeous quilt -just the right size for cuddling on the couch and sipping hot chocolate with a special someone- in rings of reds and black, with bright red and gold winter flowers in the center of the inter-locking rings, on white and green leafy backgrounds. Deanna had pieced and quilted the entire thing herself. Reichart informed them that his primary help had been that he had offered moral support and lots of baby-watching so that his wife could work in peace in the evenings.

Callie had made Ed a new coffee mug in a pottery class she was taking, glazed brilliant red with the crest on it. Ed had made a big deal out of that one, and Callie had beamed when he insisted on using it immediately.

But what made it all great wasn't the presents, but the love.  
Mal broke away from the tussle on the floor, and trotted over to the table, where he sat down at Ed's feet and looked up hopefully.

Ed reached down and ruffled his fluffy white head fur. "Need something fella?"

Mal whuffled, which sounded for all the world like he was talking, and licked Ed's hand.

Then the pup peed on the floor.

* * *

_Author's Note: 1/1/2013 Happy New Year! Hope everyone has had a great start so far, and enjoys both today's chapter, and today's little addition over in Movements. A new piece entitled "Resolutions" in honor of today. _


	6. Chapter 6

**February 5****th****, 1974**

:This is going to be so much fun!: Angelique bubbled as she stared in the mirror between two of the bunk beds, carefully applying mascara to her already thick, dark eyelashes, her colorful red floral knee-length dress swishing a little.

Minxia, sitting on Angelique's bottom bunk, did not roll her eyes, but she did smile. :You just like the excuse to dress up,: she teased her roommate.

:And why not?: Angelique asked. :How often do we get to go to a luau on a beach in ancient ruins… full of cute boys?:

:This would be a first,: Minxia admitted, and she wasn't at all against the idea really, even if she wasn't interested in flirting with the college boys that were much more likely who Angelique was hoping to flirt with even though she had to know she didn't have a chance of catching their attention at her age. :Though I think I'm looking forward to the dancing more.: She had heard that the music was supposed to be fabulous, and the food too, though that wasn't as much of an interest to her as the culture.

:Well yes, that too,: Angelique grinned, and a couple of the other girls giggled. :Oh, please, Minx. I know you're dying to dance with *someone.*:

:Who, Grandpa Al?: Minxia quipped in reply.

:Well if you want to,: Angelique shrugged. :I meant Thrakos.:

:Is it a crime to dance with your friends?: Minxia asked flatly, a twinge of irritation at Angelique's implicative tone.

:It is if you're not romantically interested in the single, very attractive son of the President,: Angelique replied as if this much should be obvious.

:I don't care who his family is any more than he cares who mine is,: Minxia replied. :After all, Mom's a Xingese princess. So what's the big deal?:

:Yeah, you really don't get it.: Angelique didn't mean to be mean but, as Minxia realized from time to time, her best friend didn't really _get it_ either, because while her family was well off, a lot of it was based on business, not birthright. If not for the marriage contract that had declared that Minxia and her siblings were out of the line of succession unless something happened to all of her cousins first, than she would also be a princess in more than lineage. But, that had little to nothing to do with her everyday life, and likely never would.

But Thrakos was one of her few friends who really _did_ get it, even though his family wasn't technically any kind of royalty. But his father was President, and his grandfather had once been President, even with someone in between, so he had a better idea than anyone else.

:It's just about having fun,: Minxia pointed out. :Besides, Thrakos has been drooling over Rakaela just like all the other boys.: This did put a sour note on her thoughts again just because it bugged her. She _did_ think Thrakos was cute, and friendly, and fun to be around even when he was aggravating. She also thought he was better than acting as much of a fool as he looked inclined to be on this trip. What was up with boys anyway?

:There is that.: Angelique looked less pleased by this proposition, but not for long, as she finished and straightened up. :Well, let's go!:

Minxia followed Angelique and the others out and down towards the beach, where –under a group of palm trees, she could see a fire pit, lots of torches, tables, and hear the sound of large drums already beating a catchy rhythm. This particular night was meant to be part of the field trip, but it was not technically part of the dig, unless you counted the fact that everyone taking part was part of the dig, with the true locals doing the music, the dancing, and the cooking too.

She had to admit when they got there, that there were an awful lot of good looking men –of a wide variety of ages- sitting around mostly in Cretan shorts and maybe a t-shirt. All that digging did not make for lazy, out of shape men. In comparison, some of their classmates did seem a little lacking, though none of them were bad looking themselves either. But she knew that much from physical education.

:There you are girls!: Rakaela was beaming at them, and Minxia noted for the first time that the older girl, along with the other few women on the dig, were wearing long, loosely woven skirts over their swimsuits and sun dresses. :It's time for a dance lesson. Who's in?:

A swarm of girls surged forward, and even Minxia had to admit her interest was piqued, especially when she realized that Grandma Elicia was with the other women. :I didn't know you knew how to dance like this,: she commented to her Grandmother.

:I don't,: Elicia chuckled. :But Winry did the last time she and Ed came on vacation, and she said it was a blast.:

Well, wow. Minxia grinned and stepped up between Angelique and her grandmother, and just hoped she didn't make a fool out of herself, trying to shake her hips like that and not look stupid. She wasn't nearly as curvy as some of her classmates, and she knew that would make a difference.

The boys seemed far more interested in trying out the huge drums than the traditional dancing, not that Minxia was at all surprised and really, she was relieved. At the moment they weren't really watching the girls except with the occasional glance of amusement.

Or at least, they weren't paying that much attention until the girls had finished being taught basic individual moves, and Rakaela called out :Hit it!: And the three experienced drummers started in, and Minxia swallowed her nerves and followed along, just hoping she didn't look stupid. She wasn't uncoordinated, but this was a lot more… feminine, than what she was used to doing, especially in public. Being a generally trendy dresser did not make her flashy!

Thankfully there was no whistling or calling out from the guys, though when they finished she understood why; Grandpa Al was standing off to one side, eyeing the boys dangerously, as if just daring them to say anything even remotely inappropriate about their classmates.

Minxia made a mental note to kiss her Grandpa later.

:And now,: Paulo called out. :Let's eat!:

It was immediately evident to Minxia why the dance lessons had been before the meal; there was a huge pit-roast pig, stuffed with now well-cooked fruits and local vegetables, and the whole thing was delicious.

:I don't see how anyone's going to be able to move to do any more dancing,: she commented jokingly to Thrakos, as they sat a bit later, sprawled on beach towels licking ice cream cones.

Thrakos groaned in agreement, but he grinned. :Oh we'll find it somewhere. After all, they promised more normal dance music later. One of the guys here apparently plays a mean guitar and knows a lot of rock songs.:

Indeed, it wasn't long before the festivities had turned into a much more typical teenage dance party.

Not that Minxia particularly felt like dancing. Neither did Thrakos apparently, since he didn't budge from the towel beside hers through the first two songs.  
:Not in a dancing mood?: she finally asked him.

:Not really,: he admitted with a chuckle. :Hey, some of the guys and I found this awesome tide pool earlier. You want to see? It should still be there. Tide's out.:

:Sure!: That sounded far more fun than watching Angelique trying to flirt with older men, or dancing the rest of their class into the ground. She stood up and followed Thrakos as they cut out of the circle of light, through the trees, and out the other side onto an expanse of beach that ran along the ever-rising cliff that the remains of the city went half-way up, instead of where they plummeted into the ocean's depths.

Minxia followed Thrakos over several rocky places, until a few minutes later, when a shallow expanse, maybe three feet deep, spread out before her in the rocks and sand. In the bright moonlight, she could see several sea creatures moving through the surprisingly clear water. :This is fabulous!: She dropped down on her stomach and peered over the edge, getting a good view of the animals in the water. There were starfish, and a small sea urchin. :Oh, look, a jellyfish!:

:Hey, Minx?:

:What?: she asked, resisting the urge to touch the jellyfish. :It's just a little one, and it's not even one of the aggressive ones.:

:I wasn't talking about the jellyfish.:

:Then what do you want?: Minxia sat up and turned to look over her shoulder, to find that Thrakos had crouched down beside her, but he wasn't looking at the water. His eyes were boring straight into hers with a surprisingly intense gaze. Her stomach flipped, and she realized then that they were all alone on that stretch of beach and she could barely hear the music in the distance, it was overwhelmed by the sound of the surf.

Thrakos swallowed and his eyes flicked elsewhere for a moment before he looked back at her, his expression far more normal, if slightly awkward. :I ah… well I wanted to talk to you about… something. But I don't want to make things awkward so-:

A moment later his lips were on hers and Minxia had stopped breathing. Kissing? They were kissing! She was cognizant only of that for a moment, and then that he tasted like pineapple and soda, and he was warm, and she had to grab him to keep from falling over into the pool of water in surprise.

It lasted only seconds, but as soon as it broke, Minxia stared up at him, and Thrakos looked as stunned by his impulsive actions as she was. He almost dropped her as he sat back and she let go. :I ah… so much for not making things weird.:

:I'll say.: Minxia sat up on her knees and turned to face him, trying to ignore the heavy pounding of her heart. :Want to tell me why?:

:Why? Isn't that obvious?: Thrakos looked nonplussed. :I like you, Minx. You're fun, and pretty, and easy to get along with. I mean, we're already friends it's just… it's so easy with you.:

Easy? :Just what does that mean?:

Thrakos blushed in the moonlight but went on, flustered. :I mean it's just… natural. It's so easy to talk to you, and I can figure you out. I know what you're going to think of something usually, or what you'll say, and you don't confuse me or play games like other girls. I mean, I can say something completely innocuous and it'll set Angelique off. But you… you're not like that. You're already one of my best friends. I just… I feel like maybe there's more to it on my end. I was… I was hoping maybe you liked me back, you know, as more than just a guy. But," he rambled on, not giving her room to cut in edgewise, "I don't want things to get weird, or different or… complicated. I mean, I like what we have. I just thought we could build on that, cause I like that it's different, and easy, and not…:

:Full of bad teen drama?: Minxia suggested, finding her tongue at last.

Thrakos blinked, then he chuckled, looking a little relieved. :Yeah, basically. So, what do you say? Will you go out with me? You know, as more than friends?:

Minxia looked up into those dark eyes, that good looking face… and smacked him hard with the palm of her hand.

:Oww! What was that for?: Thrakos' own hand flew to his face, eyes watering as he stared at her in disbelief.

:If you like me, why the heck have you been staring at Rakaela ever since we got here?: Minxia stared him in the eyes, daring him to try and weasel out of that one.

:Because I was trying not to stare at you!: he retorted, sounding hurt and exasperated. :I didn't want to be, you know, too obvious in public. In case you didn't like me… like that. And because I'm male… and stupid.: The last one was almost a question.

:At least you're honest,: Minxia finally grumbled begrudgingly. :And yes, you're definitely male and stupid,: she added for good measure. Inside though, everything was running a mile a minute. Thrakos liked _her?_ He _liked_ her! :But… yeah, I do like you,: she finally admitted, more softly.

:You do?: Thrakos' face lit up with relief and Minxia was glad to see that the mark on his face from her slap seemed to be fading quickly. She hadn't been trying to do real damage after all.

:Like you said,: she smiled. :It's easy, and I don't really want things to change much either." She leaned forward and slid her arms around his neck. :But this… this I could get used to.: And she leaned in closer and kissed him again.

* * *

Aldon nearly threw the paper into the fireplace as he wadded it up. He did pitch it across the room. However, it missed the fire and bounced across the floor, where it rolled up against a fuzzy sock covered foot.

"More bad news?" Cassie asked, her tone gentle as she came and sat down next to him on the couch.

"More bad political opinion columns," Aldon admitted with a growl. "Who believes all this trash anyway? I haven't said a word against Ron outside of professional policy and position debates. So where is all this slander coming from anyway?" He had thought that he and Cassie were well liked, certainly he couldn't think of anyone in Resembool he'd count as an antagonist. Until now. "I certainly haven't insulted his wife's clothing."

"Did it say that?" Cassie looked startled and almost reached for the paper.

"Don't bother," Aldon stayed her with a hand on her shoulder, and then pulled her close against his side, needing her calming influence before his temper got the better of him. "It's all misdirection, rumor, opinion… nothing factual at all, and they don't want to talk about the real facts anywhere in that paper lately." He was beginning to consider cancelling their subscription, except the kids still enjoyed the weekend comics section, and he did like the news, when it wasn't ripping him apart over things that had never happened. Worse was when there were statements attacking Cassie. Those he couldn't stand. He didn't want to tell her that the comments about insulting Marilla Causworth's clothes had been about her.

Apparently he didn't have to. Cassie ran her hand along his arm. "Anyone who matters knows better, Don. This is Resembool. We know almost everyone in the area. Only new folks, or folks who don't know us are going to believe anything at all outside the truth. Don't let it bother you. A few rabble rousers aren't going to change the opinions of an entire town. Especially not one as stubborn as this one."

"Even when what they say is all over the papers?" Aldon growled, but he let himself be placated. Her hands felt good.

"Even then," Cassie snuggled against him and then kissed his cheek. "The harder they argue against you, the more scared they obviously are, _whoever_ they are."

Aldon sighed. "I know. I just… what does Rilla have against you anyway?" That was what he didn't get. He hadn't thought the women really knew each other much, let alone had reason to disagree before this.

"I think she just wants to be the wife of the mayor." Cassie shrugged. "She cares about power and positioning, and I don't think she really 'gets' this country life."

"And you don't want to be the wife of the mayor?"

Cassie chuckled. "I'm already your wife, whether you're mayor or not. And that's all I need."

**February 6****th****, 1974**

:So how was it?: Angelique whispered for the thousandth time that morning, only this time Minxia could not pretend to ignore her, since they were mostly alone on their little spot of the dock, putting on their gear before climbing on the boat to go out to the dive site.

:Oh about eight inches long... and really wet,: Minxia retorted as she slipped on her swim fins.

Angelique's expression was worth it. :Eww!:

:Get your mind out of the gutter, Angelique. It was a jellyfish.: Minxia rolled her eyes, and hoped her friend would drop the subject, even though she knew realistically that wasn't going to happen. Ever since she and Thrakos had returned to the party the night before, Angelique had been watching them, and she had been bugging Minxia for details ever since.

:I wasn't asking about what you said you saw in that tidal pool!: Angelique whispered though if she had been speaking louder it would have been more of a wail of impatience at being thwarted. :You kissed! I know it. Now tell me, how was it? Are you guys dating now? What's going on?:

:All right everyone!: Alphonse shouted from the ramp from the dock to the ship. :Get on board! The ruins won't wait forever.:

There was a chorus of good natured groans from the students going on today's dive. Not everyone was going at once, but the lucky ones had to face it by getting up early after the previous night's entertainment.

Minxia had never been happier to be interrupted by her grandfather during a private conversation. She stood up and made her way onto the boat. Keeping things private for a while was going to be much tougher than she had thought. She just hoped her friend would stop hounding her, or she would succeed in making things weirder!

So far, this morning, the only thing weird to Minxia was how normal things were. Thrakos had been himself at breakfast. And other than a couple of glances she had caught, and the fact he didn't avert his eyes –and he hadn't been staring at Rakaela's chest across the room- he was just himself, and they had joked at the table as usual.

If not for those couple of glances, she might have thought kissing him last night under the moon by the tide pool a figment of a very overactive imagination.

It only took a few minutes to get everyone on board, given only ten of the twenty students and Grandpa Al were going on this particular trip. And they were going out on the boat with Paoulo and one of the other archaeologists, Arrus Xanthas, who was also their diving expert, which made for a crew of only thirteen people.

As the small ship, powered by motor and big enough to fit them all with relative ease on the decks and in chairs, moved out over the waves, Minxia settled down in a seat near the prow, where she could see easily where they were going, even if it meant getting hit with salty spray.

Someone moved in close beside her, and she almost told them to get their own space, when she saw that it was Thrakos. Instead, she edged over to make a little more room. :Incredible, isn't it?: she asked, having to talk a bit louder to be heard over the motor thrumming beneath them and the surge of the sea and the wind whipping past.

:I like boats,: Thrakos grinned but he shrugged. :Remind me to take you out on ours sometime if you like the sea this much.:

Minxia could only imagine what the Argyros family boat looked like. :Where do you go sailing?: she asked curiously. It wasn't something Thrakos had spoken of before.

:It's usually in dock at Pylos, so we could go on a weekend,: Thrakos explained as he made the offer. :We've got some smaller sailing craft inland, for lake and river enjoyment, but I think you'd like the yacht.:

:I'd offer to take you on my uncle's yacht, but Xing is pretty far from here,: Minxia returned with a teasing smile.

Thrakos' tan cheeks reddened slightly. :Sorry. Bragging?:

:Not really.: Minxia dared to give his hand a small squeeze. No one else was close enough to hear, and most of them seemed to be talking amongst themselves, watching the ocean, and otherwise not paying attention. Even Grandpa was talking to Arrus, who was driving the boat.

:Oh good.: Thrakos returned the squeeze and looked slightly relieved, as if it was an affirmation that he hadn't imagined last night either. It was enough for them both.

After about twenty minutes of sailing out to sea and a bit south, Damon cut the engine on the boat and had the boys help heft the anchor. :All right,: he spoke up and everyone finally got quiet, eager anticipation stilling even the chattiest teenage tongues. :You've all passed the basic safety and knowledge tests. We're going to be staying in a reasonably well-defined area. We're currently at anchor right above the largest pillar in the ruins below. It's an easy landmark to find.:

:Even underwater?: Shaun, one of their classmates, called out with a laugh.

Arrus nodded, not looking particularly amused. :You will choose a partner, and stick with your diving partner at all times. One of us, either Paoulo or myself, will be here with the boat at all times. If you have a problem, surface if you can. If not, signal.:

Minxia hoped they wouldn't need the waterproof signal lights they all had on them. She looked at Thrakos, whose grin said he had no intention of buddying up with anybody else.

Fortunately no one seemed to find this at all odd. Though Minxia was sure Grandpa Al was giving them occasional sidelong glances. Minxia purposefully ignored them and worried about her mask, air tank, and hoses. When she and Thrakos had checked each other's equipment and their own, they waited their turn to enter the water.

Minxia braced –more emotionally than physically- for her first dive in deep open water. But the moment the water closed over her head, and she opened her eyes, and started breathing properly through her mask, the entire world outside her limited field of vision was too fascinating to worry about being nervous.

She hadn't quite grasped just how big Malathos had been, especially for an ancient city. Even knowing they were diving at the farthest outreach of the city –what had once been the beach front property- did not make it any less impressive. The columns here were huge, as if they had held up the sky more than buildings. There was an amphitheater in the distance, though she did not think swimming that far from the boat would be wise. She looked up, and through the mottled blue-green and moving splotches of light and dark, she could see the boat as a distorted blur on top of the water, and the anchor hanging down to the sand and silt below, right next to the largest pillar, as promised.

Minxia was in a hurry and yet she wanted everything to last forever, so she could have time to see it all without rushing. She and Thrakos wove their way through a small sea of columns and down to the old submerged road bed leading down the main thoroughfare of Malathos, the long road that had curved from the top of the hill on which they had been digging, in a slow curve northward, then westward as it stepped down the long gone hills and into the sea, and all the way down here, to what had once been a district of merchant's stalls and entertainments.

_Oh my gosh!_ She almost squealed aloud as a shadow drifted past below, and Minxia realized she was looking at a shark. She glanced around sharply for Thrakos, who was also watching the shark. He met her eyes, and he looked like he was smiling.

Minxia looked down again, and realized the shark was skirting the ocean floor, and there was more than one of them, but they were staying low. She tried to think about what she knew of the sharks here, and realized that they were almost certainly nurse sharks.

Certainly if they were more dangerous Thrakos would look worried. Instead, he took her hand and swam downwards.  
Heart pounding in her ears, Minxia followed him down, grateful that he didn't take her too close. They stopped far enough above them that the sharks did not seem bothered by their presence.

Minxia couldn't stop smiling as she watched a small swarm of baby sharks following a mother nurse shark around. They swam through the ruins as naturally as if they had always lived there. Of course, she thought to herself, these sharks always had. They had no way of remembering when this area was land, inhabited by people instead of fish.

There were several other schools of fish sailing between the kelp beds and the pillars, some down low, others out in open water.  
The sheer amount of life under the ocean continued to impress her.

A flash in the water caught her attention, and she and Thrakos looked to their left, where she could see Grandpa Al using a mirror as a signal. It was a prearranged signal, and the two students swam towards it to the gathering point.

As they approached, Minxia wondered what specifically her grandfather wanted them all to look at, given he couldn't exactly give an educational lecture underwater. Though she smiled at the idea of watching him try.

What they found was the first of the underwater excavation areas; a building whose roof had been broken centuries back, likely in the initial destruction of the city. Yet the piles of stones beside it were far too well organized, and clear of debris and growth, to have naturally moved that way. Clearly they had moved recently. Minxia could see immediately why they had started here as well, when they swam down into the interior which was, thankfully, shark free.

There were several large rooms but the primary one, which appeared to have had a vaulted ceiling, and several antechambers, appeared almost to be a miniature palace. Minxia began to wonder, as she realized the layout was not unlike the one studied in their book that covered the larger palace, still up at the top of the hill, if this was where the kings of Malathos had hosted parties when they held their sporting events. A much closer location to stay in within the city than all the way up the hill; closer to the events and the parties.

It looked like there were some things about people that just didn't change much.

Minxia could have stayed down for hours, but their air tanks wouldn't last that long. So she explored as much as she could before the signal came to go back to the surface.

Regretfully, Minxia followed Thrakos back up to the surface…

And came up to find the sky much darker than she remembered, and the waves far choppier than the calm waters below.

"Everybody on board!" Arrus Xanthas was shouting as he, Paoulo, and Grandpa Al helped the high school students clamber back over the sides and onto the ship. "Storm incoming."

"Like we couldn't see that," Thrakos commented near at hand as he helped Minxia get her mask off. "This isn't good," he added unnecessarily as the boat tossed and bounced on the choppy surface.

Minxia shook her head and held on as Arrus at the wheel turned the ship about and began to cut through the waters towards the distant shoreline. She watched her grandpa counting heads, and saw Angelique huddled between two of the boys further back along the deck.

Lightning split the blackening sky overhead, and Minxia squeaked in surprise. Normally, she wasn't afraid of storms. But she'd never been caught out on the water in one, and as an alchemist the one thing she was painfully aware of was that they were a sitting target for lightning strikes.

"Hey, easy there."

She felt Thrakos' arm go around her, and sheepishly she peeked out from where she had buried her face in his chest. "Sorry. I just… electricity, water…"

"It'll be all right," Thrakos replied, though he looked pale, she thought.

Minxia glanced at Grandpa Al, and only at the look of intense concentration on his face did she feel relieved. Why hadn't she thought about it? If he could, there was no way Alphonse Elric would let their boat be struck by lightning. Surely so skilled an alchemist could divert something like that… right? In truth, she wasn't sure. And she felt worse for her lack of experience.

Thunder crashed and she snuggled closer against the strong, comforting warmth –however damp- that was Thrakos. The sooner they got to shore, the better.


	7. Chapter 7

**February 6****th****, 1974 Cont'd **

Even though they saw the storm coming, Elicia and the remaining students on shore –along with the several archaeologists who had been giving them a lecture on the old palace at the top of the ruins- were soaked by the time they ran for the cabins.

Thunder pealed and lightning crackled in an almost constant show of power that made Elicia shiver, for reasons entirely unrelated to the weather itself. She sent the boys to their cabin and followed the remaining girls into theirs, where she changed into dry clothes, toweled off her hair, and then pulled on full rain gear.

They reassembled in the main building, which was mostly dining hall, but also living area, and the radio room.

It was for this last reason that Elicia wanted to be there. :Any word from the ship?: she asked anxiously as soon as she entered the room.

Professor Damon Filios himself was sitting at the radio. He didn't look happy. :Nothing since they checked in at the beginning of the dive,: he grumbled. :Arrus knows to report in more often.:

Elicia didn't like the sound of that. Still, she fought down the rising bile in her throat at the fear she felt for Alphonse, and Minxia and the other kids, all out on the water in this deluge. What if they'd been caught in the water? She tried not to think about what would happen if they got caught in a lightning strike on the open sea, or capsized. :What is the likelihood their radio could have gone out?: she asked, looking for a more reasonable alternative.

:Fairly good,: Damon admitted with a sigh. :With this much interference, they could be sending a signal, and we wouldn't get much. Mind you, we should be getting_ something_.:

:What about other alternatives?: she asked softly. The rest of the kids were plastered to the windows, staring out at the spectacular light show. Most of them, however, looked worried. The building around them shuddered with the buffeting wind.

:There's always the possibility of a ship going down in this weather,: Damon acknowledged. :Especially with sudden squalls. However, Arrus is our best and most experienced diver, and sailor. He's sailed seas this rough before. I should know, I've been out with him.: At those words, his face took on a slightly greenish cast, as if he recalled that memory not at all fondly.

* * *

Alphonse left the sailing to the experts; he was too focused on keeping the ship from being struck by lightning to worry about the huge, pitching waves that rose many times higher than the boat, sending them often into deep troughs before the ship would rise again to the top of the next swell. They seemed to be at least thirty feet high if not more, but Al closed his eyes, focusing on the transmutation he was using –which required relatively constant work- to keep the boat from being conductive, but without altering its structure to a point that might put them in danger. The last thing he wanted to do was cause the ship to lose coherence and come apart in the water!

The students were abnormally silent, save for the gasps and occasional squeak at a particularly dramatic lurch in the ship's movement.

The driving rain had soaked them all through, and while Al was aware that he was chilled to the bone and not a bit of him was dry, but it was far colder than it had been in the ocean, he didn't really _feel_ it. His senses were highly aware of everything going on around him, but the information was sort of filed away at the back of his mind. His consciousness was wrapped up in alchemy.

Finally he became cognizant of the fact that the lightning had stopped flashing around them, and the thunder rolls were moving off into the distance. Al opened his eyes, and surveyed the storm clouds above.

The rain was worse, but in this instance he considered that an improvement none the less.

:How far are we from shore?: He asked as he scrambled back to the wheel, where Arrus and Paoulo were.

:From shore itself? Not more than a few hundred yards,: Arrus growled. :From a landing spot? That's a different story.:

:We're miles south of Malathos,: Paoulo explained with a grimace, gesturing to the ship's starboard side. :You can see the cliffs. If we were North, it would be all sand, and we could just run ourselves ashore if need be, if not find our port. But this…:

As if to make the point, Arrus veered the ship sharply to port to avoid a jagged rock jutting ten feet out of the water beside them that seemed to loom out of nowhere in the storm darkness of the afternoon and the masking rain.

Al held hard to the rail beside him. :If I take care of the rocks, can you find a place to put in?:

Both of the archaeologists looked at him, startled, as if they hadn't even thought to ask. Perhaps, Al thought grimly, they hadn't realized exactly how much he was doing when he stood there, eyes closed, doing subtle transmutation. Well, he'd show them just what they were missing.

:We can't stay out here,: Arrus agreed. :Starboard heading, if I'm not wrong, there are caves and a small beach area a few more miles south of here. We'll make for that. But it's some treacherous going.:

:I can handle it,: Al replied with full confidence as he moved to the bow of the ship to see better.

Minxia and Thrakos moved out of his way. :What are you doing, Grandpa?: Minxia asked.

Al clapped his hands together, before holding them outspread. :Clearing us a road.:

* * *

Minxia was not prepared for the next rock sticking up in front of them to glow bright blue and explode, shards flying in all directions _except_ at the boat! Then the one beyond it went, chunks of rock the side of her head whistling off in all directions.

:What the heck?: Thrakos stared at the rocks in the rain. :Is_ he_ doing that?: she asked Minxia, eyes wide as he pointed up at Alphonse.

Minxia nodded, and felt a smile creeping to her face despite the danger they were all in. :Yeah, he's pretty awesome that way.: Somehow, knowing her grandfather was more than capable of doing something to help their situation made her feel safer. There were literally hundreds of stories about the exploits of Grandpa Al and Great-Uncle Edward over the years, and they always came out on top no matter the odds or how crazy they trouble they seemed to be in. At least in the end. Whatever the case, they always came out alive, and Minxia was beginning to really see why. Until now, she'd never had reason to witness any of the more dramatic or large-scale alchemy her grandfather was capable of.

Not that exploding rocks were without their dangers. Minxia noted that one that fell particularly close to the ship sizzled when it hit the water, and there was no way to see all of them. Several times, she heard sharp scrapes against the hull from rocks that were under the water, and the ship shuddered often, and the sounds of cracking wood were not at all reassuring.

She had to cling often to the side of the ship, to the seat… to Thrakos. Anything to keep from being flung to the deck or overboard as the little ship tossed and bounced, and flying rubble light up the darkness around them with temporary shards of blue that vanished whenever lightning crackled in the distance.

She couldn't have said where they were, and was shocked when the boat slammed hard into something, and stopped cold. Half the class fell from their seats, slamming into the decking.

:Land ho!: someone groaned from the stern.

Grandpa Al, clinging to the railing, straightened up and glanced right past her to Arrus and Paoulo.

Arrus nodded. :This bit of beach has a few caves I've checked out before. Best chance to get above the tide.:

Al nodded. :Everyone, off the ship!: he bellowed over the pounding surf and the rushing winds. :Into the caves! We need to get above the water and out of this weather!:

Minxia didn't need to be told twice, shivering, she scrambled to the side of the ship, and followed everyone off the boat, Thrakos and Angelique beside her as her friend pushed through the small crowd.

The slip of beach really was no more than a sliver of sandy rocks that ran like a ledge along the bottom of steep cliffs Minxia could tell they had little hope of climbing. At least, not in the current weather conditions.

Driven against the rocks by a gust of wind, she grabbed Angelique's shoulder, and her friend reached back. They grabbed arms together and made their way forward, following Paoulo, who led them to the cave entrance, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, and Minxia would never have noticed if she hadn't had a guide. They were right inside it before she even realized it was there.

Inside the cave was pitch dark and everyone huddled close together, shivering and scared. Minxia swallowed several times, small cuts stinging from the sea water, and forcing herself not to tremble. They were alive, and on shore. It was a far cry better than their previous circumstances!

:This is not the trip I had in mind,: Angelique sniffed, sounding exasperated.

:Oh give it a rest!: one of the boys growled at her.

:Leave her alone,: Minxia retorted sharply. She knew her friend was just coping with the fear and the unknown and situation in her own way. Hardship wasn't exactly something Angelique was used to.

Not that Minxia could claim she was used to it, not by a long shot. But at least she had heard enough family stories and been taught enough not to panic without reason. Or, ideally, not to panic at all, even with reason. Now was the perfect time to keep her cool.

:We need to get above the tide line,: she heard her grandfather speaking to Arrus and Paoulo. :You mentioned these caves do that. How far back do we have to go?:

:Quite a ways,: Arrus replied softly. :But I've got a couple of lanterns I brought out of the boat. We should be able to see well enough. If we get high enough there might also be driftwood for fires. You think the kids will make it?:

:Sure,: Al replied with conviction in his tone. :They're pretty tough, even if they don't know it yet.:

Minxia chuckled weakly.

:What?: Thrakos asked curiously, and she realized he hadn't heard what was said. Only Minxia, picking out the familiar voice above the noise, had understood.

:Nothing. Looks like we're going to keep moving.: Taking a calming breath, Minxia smiled at Angelique and Thrakos, even though she couldn't really see them in the dim light from the entrance, to which her eyes were slowly adjusting. :Maybe we can find someplace warmer, out of the wind.: The cave was a little better, but they were still getting splashed by wind and spray. Anything dryer would be an improvement.

:All right everyone,: Grandpa Al spoke up then, calling attention in his direction. :We're moving further back into the caves. They go up from here, above the high tide line. The tide is coming in, and if we don't get up there, we're not much better off here than we were at sea. But there's plenty of room for us and an area with dry sand where we should be fine for a few hours until the water drops again. Then the storm should be over and we can go back out and have a look at the boat.:

:What if it's busted?: a boy's voice –Kevan Minxia thought- asked nervously.

:Then we'll fix it,: Al replied.

:And they should have ships out looking for us as soon as the storm passes,: Arrus added. :So if we can't fix the boat, they'll find us anyway. They know these caves exist. So all we need to do for now is stay safe until morning when the tide goes out. All right,: and a light sprang into existence, brilliant and yellow and blinding. :Follow me.:

* * *

Alphonse's face remained schooled in a look of calm concentration as he followed Arrus, with Paoulo leading up behind the line of kids as they moved through the caves. The last thing he wanted to do was worry his students even more than they already were. He had done his best to be honest about the situation without being alarmist, and that would have to do.

Fortunately, he was pleased to find that none of the ten kids with him had panicked, not even the girls. Not that he had expected Minxia to panic, but he never really could tell with kids he didn't know. Not all teenagers were as emotionally robust as he and Ed had been when it came to danger.

No one appeared seriously injured either. Not that he'd had much of a chance to look them over. That was something Al made a note to do when they stopped. Minor injuries could, in this situation, be healed with alchemy. This was not a place to get a serious gash or any kind of infection.

The caves were mostly rocky, and relatively jagged higher up, though worn smooth where it was clear the tide came up and filled them every cycle.

The lower parts were smooth, despite how much they were twisting and climbing, for quite a long time. Long enough to make Al nervous even though he was fairly certain that they were several feet above the level of the sea rising behind them, and moving faster than the water.

Still, it went against his instincts to hide in a cave under the ground to avoid drowning. Arrus spoke quietly as they walked. :Found these caves a couple of years ago. Came to this area in the summers as a kid too, with my folks. Grandparents live near here. So we saw the caves from time to time. Finally explored these when I got close enough. The far back and top has a bit of sand, usually caught drift-wood, and it's actually got a tiny vent-hole where you can smell the fresh air from outside, good for taking smoke up if we start a fire, so we don't suffocate. Best chance I figure we have at the moment. Better than out on the sea. I'm a good sailor, but no sane sailor's out in this when he can hide up somewhere in a good port.:

Al chuckled softly. :This is not my idea of a good port, but as they say. Any port.:

:Aye,: Arrus grinned, his smile a bit odd looking in the stark flickering light. :And this is definitely that kind of a storm.:


	8. Chapter 8

**February 6****th****, 1974 Cont'd**

Fire light flickered off the black rock walls, and the stark white sand that covered the floor in dramatic contrast. Alphonse was grateful that there had indeed been plenty of drift wood to light for fires. The kids had been put to work gathering it all up and getting those started, and had worked eagerly, glad for the distraction of something to do that was productive and kept their minds off the danger they were all in. Then they had sat around the fires and chatted for a while. Al hadn't taken much part unless asked a question, but conversations had quickly shifted –the ones he could hear- from their present predicament to anything else but that, as they tried to think about other things.

That was fine with Al, his own thoughts were also somewhere else at the same time they were very immediately on the present, as if he could think about two things at once. Which, after all this time, he could.

They kept the fires stoked enough that they burned warm, though he let the light die and kept the embers burning as one by one the exhausted high-schoolers drifted off to sleep on the sand, finally mostly dry and warm. Hunger was a lost feeling to them, for the moment. At least, Al hadn't heard one complaint about it; something he would never have thought likely from ten teens.

As they dropped off, and Arrus and Paoulo settled into silence, Al felt no need to start conversation. Instead, he watched the water as it crawled slowly, inexorably towards them up the narrow stretch of tunnel that had been their final ascent.

In the light it appeared a flickering, reflective surface on top of blackness, almost like tar, or crude oil in the dark, sometimes filled with little flickers as a flame guttered. Inch by inch, moving very little this far removed from the thundering waves, which were only a dull pounding in the distance now, the water crawled towards them.

It didn't matter that there was a distinct water line, and it was more than ten yards from where the kids slept on the sands. There was always a first time for anything, and the last thing Al wanted to fall asleep and miss was the tide coming in at a new, record high. He desperately hoped that line was merely its highest; because they were there, with nowhere else to go.

And yet, somehow, Al didn't feel panicked by that idea. He had been in tight situations before. In this case, he was fairly certain that, given the tiny air shaft sucking the smoke from the fires up and away, he might be able to use alchemy to create a tunnel up, or back down to the ship via a different route. He wished he knew the cliffs better, but if it was take the risk or drown, he was fairly certain everyone there would rather try and get out.

Perhaps ironically, he felt more worry for Elicia, and wondered how the dig site had fared. Plenty of it had the possibility of being flooded with an unusual high tide, or bad tidal waves such as the storm outside was likely producing along that stretch of beach. Had everyone gotten off the beach in time? Was the camp all right in this storm? Elicia and the other kids who were there might be safe and warm, or huddling in emergency tents trying to hold down canvas, for all he knew.

He refused to entertain the fearful notions in his head that something could have actually happened to Elicia while he was gone. That way lay fear and potential temporary insanity.

The hour continued to grow later. Al's watch had stopped working thanks to all the salt water, so he could only use the tide itself as his time marker, knowing how long it took to come in and go out again. The day turned to evening, and moved into night, with nothing to do but wait, and hope… and wait some more.

* * *

Winry tucked her feet up under her, sitting cross-legged on the couch in her warm house robe, a cup of hot tea in hand as she settled in on the couch to read one of her favorite auto-mail magazines. The newest issue had arrived in the mail just that afternoon, and she would have started earlier if she hadn't been working on a new wrist joint for Ed. The current one had started having minor catching issues and sticking in the cold weather, no matter how it was oiled, and it was simply time to replace it. Fortunately, Winry didn't have to fully remove the arm for that procedure, and it had been done just before dinner without any complications.

Given Ed was sacked out snoozing in the recliner, Winry was pretty sure he hadn't suffered much. His griping during the procedure had been routine boredom more than anything else. He still didn't like to sit still while she worked on him.

Winry had just flipped to the article on page thirty-nine about new experimental plastics supposedly strong enough to make good light auto-mail casings –she wasn't sure she believed any of the gung-ho mechanics going that way, but she wasn't foolish enough not to read it- when the phone rang.

Winry contemplated ignoring the phone, but it rang four times, then five… and just kept ringing.

She glanced over at Ed, who grunted, twitched, and remained unconscious.

With a sigh, Winry stood up and went to the phone on the little phone table. Who would be calling at this hour? She hoped something wasn't wrong with one of the kids over at Aldon's. "Hello?"

"Winry?" the voice came through distant and tinny, as long-distance calls always sounded to Resembool. But it was clearly Elicia. "I'm so glad you're still up. Sorry to call so late."

"Elicia?" Winry hadn't been expecting a call from Creta! Or with that tone of worry in her voice. She felt a knot form in her stomach. Only a very few things worried Elicia. "Is something wrong?"

There was a pause, then "Yes," and the entire story came pouring out, about the scuba diving trips, and Al's group going out first today, and the storm coming up, and the ship being out of contact. "And the worst of it has passed," she came to the end after several minutes, "But there's still no sign of them! Not even a distress signal. And Al and Minxia both out there! I haven't called Will and Ren yet. I don't want to tell them their little girl is missing in a storm. But I had to talk to _someone!_"

Alphonse and Minxia… Winry swallowed, but managed to keep her own voice calm as she spoke into the phone. "Of course you did. It's not like Al to be out of contact, not if he can contact you. But I'm sure he's okay," she spoke softly, hoping not to wake Ed up. The last thing he'd want to hear was that his brother had gotten himself lost at sea somewhere. "If the storm is that bad, it wouldn't be that hard to knock out communication signals, especially not out on the ocean like that. And it's Al. They couldn't be safer than with an alchemist on board. Especially not that one. And he'd never let anything happen to Minxia. By that logic, they should both be fine right?"

On the other end of the line, Elicia chuckled weakly. "That's cheerful. I'm not sure how right that is, but I think I'd like to believe in it anyway. Al's amazing. Thanks, Winry. I needed that."

"I'm glad you called," Winry replied. "Let me know if you don't hear anything in the morning all right? I bet they come back full of themselves from some exciting adventure though. Just you wait and see." She squashed her own worries as she focused on reassuring dear friend. Surely Al really could handle a little storm and keep a boat together, couldn't he?

"I will," Elicia promised. "I need to get off now. The coast guard could call any time and say they've found something."

"Of course. Talk to you soon," Winry replied as the line went quiet. She hung up the phone and went back to the couch, though her interest in her magazine article had been replaced by far greater concerns.

Apparently the discussion had awoken Ed. He looked up at her as she sat back down, drowsiness giving way to concern on his face. "Something up?"

"Oh not much," Winry sighed. "It just looks like for once your brother is more trouble than you are."

**February 7****th****, 1974**

Stiff. Salty… parts of her were chilled through, but the pillow was warm.

Pillow?

Minxia blinked grit out of her eyes and opened them to the dim glow of fire embers and dark and shadow, even though it felt as though enough hours had passed that it should be morning. At least, that's what her internal clock said.

Glancing sideways she discovered her pillow… Thrakos' shoulder. Abruptly, she sat up, and glanced around, hoping her Grandpa hadn't noticed.

It took several seconds for her to realize that no one else was awake at the moment, not even her grandfather, who was leaning against a short, thick log that had washed up in here years ago, legs out in front of him, head lolling on his chest and arms crossed. It looked slightly odd in a wet suit, but Minxia noted he didn't snore.

Curious, Minxia looked down towards the water, which had been climbing, but seemed to have stopped before she drifted off. Now, it was definitely lower. She peered far down into the tunnel and could just see the movement of water several feet down.

:Nnn…:

She twitched and looked over her shoulder as Thrakos rolled up against her leg, still clearly unconscious. Minxia couldn't help smiling at the lock of hair stuck to his face with dried ocean water and sand. She resisted the urge to wipe it off.

After another minute, Thrakos stirred, and looked up at her, and smiled. :Morning.:

:I think so,: Minxia replied. :The water's going down.: Which made her feel better, even though she had no idea how much longer it would take to fully recede. How were they going to get back out of the cave though? She could hear almost nothing in the silence, save dripping water and the distant sound of surf. It wasn't nearly as hard or loud as the night before which meant, she hoped, that the storm had passed.

:Good.: Thrakos sat up, rubbed sand and lock of hair alike from his face, and got the sand out of his hair by ruffling it violently with his hands till it was nothing but a black mop… an oddly attractive black mop. :I can't wait to get out of here. I'm starved.: As if to accentuate the point, his stomach made an odd whirring noise.

:Me too,: Minxia admitted, looking over to where Angelique had fallen asleep nearby. She looked cold.

It wasn't long before the others started to awaken as well, and Minxia felt an unreasonable –she felt- twinge of annoyance at not having more of a quiet moment with Thrakos. This was hardly the time to worry about romance! No matter how good looking and close to you a boy was, emotionally or physically.

Grandpa Al and the two Cretan men awoke soon after, and stoked the fires, until the cave was once again reasonably warm. Minxia began to feel less clammy by the time hungry, cramped, and still worried teens crowded around.

:So what are we going to do?: Angelique asked as they all looked down at the slowly receding water. :We can't get through that!:

Alphonse surprised even Minxia by smiling, a fairly relaxed and confident smile. :We're going to make our own way out,: he replied. :Back to the beach is our best bet. It's too high up I think to head for the top of the cliffs from here. But we can get out without destabilizing everything.:

:But how?: Angelique asked again.

:With alchemy,: Al replied. :And this one's a pretty common trick here in Creta.: He clapped his hands together and knelt to the ground. :Watch the water.:

Slowly a small wall of air seemed to appear, shimmering half-visible before them. At least, that was how it looked to Minxia. She wondered if her classmates even really understood what she was seeing as the little wall pushed down into the water, and began to push it back and out towards the exit thanks to the application of force.

It was alchemy that kept it from spilling or leaking out anywhere.

:Think you can do that?: Al turned suddenly and asked her.

Minxia almost fell over. :Me?: She hadn't even thought about it, though she felt immediately stupid for blurting the word out as she considered how logical that was, and it really wasn't a horribly difficult transmutation. At least not in concept. It was the execution that worried her. :Sure,: she replied, not willing to say no in front of everyone. Besides, she was pretty sure she could actually do this.

Her grandfather beamed at her, then nodded and his face became focused. :All right then. We need to push the water out ahead of us until we get back out to the beach.:

:What if the high tide still has the beach flooded?: Paoulo asked, and there was a general mumble of agreed wondering from the students.

:I'll handle that until we can get back on ship,: Al assured them.

Minxia didn't think anyone else was really reassured, though they had seen Al blowing up rocks yesterday. This was very different.

Still, she couldn't back out now. Minxia stepped up next to her grandfather and picked up a scrap of charred wood from the fire. It was the only thing she could find to draw a transmutation circle. :Okay. Let's do this.:

Minxia followed his direction in drawing the circle she would need for this, which came with reassurance that it would be fine, and that once they started, they would move in stages, so that she could draw new circles as they moved further beyond the range of the one she was using. Unfortunately, working with water, some of the more distant alchemy techniques more common in Xing would not be of much use here.

She watched with a twinge of envy as her Grandfather clapped his hands together and then laid them on the rock beside him. She knew what it had cost him to have that ability, but it would have been awfully convenient right now.

The air in front of them both began to waver slightly, the way air sometimes did along a road on a warm day, though not for the same reasons. Minxia added her own strength to the wall and it took a form, solidified, and moved forward and down into the tunnel below, it's edges matching perfectly to the walls, though it hesitated where it met the resistance of the water.

"Okay… now we push," Al commented softly.

Minxia nodded; all her concentration on holding the energy flowing and completing the transmutation. They pushed harder, and the water began to move.

It was a long, slow, arduous, and exhausting process. Inch by inch, foot by foot, they pushed the water down ahead of them. Even though the tide was going out, it wasn't moving as quickly, however, as they could push it.

Despite the weather and wet, Minxia was sweating before they had gone twenty feet. It took them four times as long to get down the caves towards the entrance as it had to climb up them, edging slowly all the way, and Al holding the wall in place whenever Minxia had to reposition and redraw her circles. But he never suggested he just do it himself.

Minxia tried not to think about the amazed looks of her classmates the couple of times she glanced their way. It wasn't like she had never done alchemy in front of them. It just hadn't been anything big, or that their lives relied on. As they moved forward, and pushed harder against the shove of the ocean, the more dangerous it was if the wall collapsed.

Not that she said anything about it. It was better if they didn't think about it.

Finally, when she was literally shaking from exhaustion and thought they might not make it, they broke out into the lower part of the cave, where the water was already lower than the ceiling now, and they could slosh out to shore in water that only came up to their knees when the waves came in.

Minxia almost collapsed… but her wobble was caught by a strong pair of arms on her back, and she looked up to see Thrakos grinning at her with a look that also held just a touch of awe.  
:Nice work, Minx,: he grinned.

:I had no idea…: Arrus commented, though he was speaking to Al. :I have to say I'm impressed. Now let's see what kind of shape the boat's in.:

The boat turned out quickly to be evidently more of a problem. The anchor was lodged well and solidly between the rocks, thank goodness, but there were several small holes in the hull, and water in the boat. More detailed clambering over the ship also revealed that the radio system was fried from being soaked in salt water.

Minxia wasn't sure what to make of her grandfather, except that he was beginning to seem superhuman. For one thing, he wasn't even sweating. For another, at the announcement that the radio wasn't working and the sight of the holes in the ship, he just nodded, clapped his hands together again, and went to work.

In short order the ship was fixed, emptied of water, and floating buoyantly once more. The radio looked brand new.

:Radios are something of a specialty of mine,: Al replied enigmatically when asked. :They're easy.:

:And ships?: Paoulo asked.

:I've worked with more difficult materials. Let's see about getting back now, shall we?:

It hadn't taken him more than half an hour to fix the boat. During that time, Minxia had gotten her wind back, and studiously ignored the look on Angelique's face as Thrakos practically hovered over her.  
Arrus went for the radio as the students all clambered back on board, and Paoulo hauled up the anchor. :Hello, _Traveler_to base camp. Come in Base Camp. Do you read me?:

* * *

Elicia was fairly certain that ten cups of coffee was more than a reasonable number, but having not slept all night, she suspected that it was the only thing keeping her away outside of her fears for Al and Minxia. There hadn't been a word all night. Nothing as the storm howled, and battered, and eventually receded into a long, slow, soaking rain.

Dawn came late thanks to the thick layer of clouds that lay over the ocean and shoreline like a blanket, and fog rolled in until mid-morning, when the sun finally peaked through and burned it off.

Elicia did not eat, though she made sure the students did, fielding questions with patience and a calm she did not feel. She didn't think any of them really believed the statement that everything was all right, but they nodded and pretended along with her. No one wanted to consider that ten of their classmates and their teacher might actually be dead, lost at sea in the middle of a field trip.

The irony was not at all lost on Elicia, who was beginning to think that sending Alphonse looking for homunculi might have been safer.

It was not a productive morning. While the archaeologists worked on getting the dig site back in general working order, Elicia remained in the main building, waiting by the radio with the radio operator for any message from the ship, or from the coast guard out looking for the ship. She paused by the table of artifacts that were recently labeled. The alchemy note tablets that Minxia had helped unearth were there. Al had told her that, on further reading, they contained mostly what he jokingly called 'household' alchemy. Transmutations to help keep things from spoiling, or to un-spoil food that was a bit ripe but not lost to inedibility. There was even a very primitive transmutation to make outer-garments water-proof.

Elicia wondered if Al might have used it out there, to keep dry.

Most of the students volunteered to help with the clean-up efforts, for which she was grateful. They were distracted and busy that way.

It was almost time for the midday lunch break when static erupted over the radio, and Elicia jumped, having slipped into a light doze.

She ignored the smirk on the radio operator's face as he picked up the receiver. :This is Base Camp, _Traveler._ We read you! Copy.:

More static. :Reef point,: came through clearly. :Ship damaged…. Repairs complete.:

:Anyone injured?: the tech asked in return.

:Only minor cuts,: came back the reply, and relief flooded Elicia like warm bath water after a dunk in the sea. :Elric's quite the repairman.:

Alphonse! Elicia resisted the urge to shout at the radio. The signal was bad enough as it was.

:Any idea what time you'll be back?: the tech asked.

:An hour, maybe two,: came the reply. :Got to maneuver… rocks.:

:Understood, _Traveler._ Safe seas. Over and out.: He sat back, then smiled at Elicia. :Looks like you all got lucky.:

:Not luck,: Elicia found herself smiling for the first time since the night before. :They've got Al.:

* * *

Alphonse had never been happier to be off a boat than as he followed the students down the gang plank onto the battered dock at Malathos, and moved through the crowd into Elicia's waiting arms. Her kiss did more to erase his bone-deep weariness and the stress of the past twenty-four hours than any night of sleep or cup of coffee would have.

He ignored the laughs and couple of whistles from his male students. They were probably jealous. Though Al did not prolong the embrace. That would do for later.

:You just had to do something crazy on a routine trip didn't you?: Elicia accused, though her tone was light with relief.

:Naturally,: Al replied, smiling in relief at finding her safe on land. He had worried constantly, but had put it aside in favor of survival. Now, safe on land, the dangers no longer felt like they had been all that dangerous. A fallacy, Al knew, but one he could live with. He'd certainly done it enough times. Somehow, defying death over and over again tended to make a guy less prone to fearing for his life. :Had to give the kids a bit of a thrill.:

:Gee thanks, Mr. Elric,: Thrakos piped up with a snarky quip. :We could never have gone through life without that fabulous educational experience.:

:You're welcome,: Al replied, shooting the boy a knowing look. He'd have had to have been blind not to notice him snuggling up to Minxia in the cave, or on the ride back. He wasn't all over her exactly, but his face gave him away, and his gestures, and the fact he hadn't moved more than five feet from her since they left the dock originally. Friends… _right._

Thrakos looked briefly embarrassed, but then the look was gone again, and he shrugged. Minxia's face, however, had that tell-tale flush to it that told Al his barb had not missed.

:Something I should know about?: Elicia asked, confused.

:Later,: Al promised. He wasn't going to start telling her about his granddaughter's little romance in front of the rest of the students. He had far more pressing concerns. :Right now, I just want to get everyone clean, dry, and fed.:

Elicia nodded, and slid an arm through his as they all crowded back off the dock, the adventurers regaling the rest of their classmates with the harrowing tale, though it already sounded more like a grand adventure in retelling.

Al chuckled. Some things never changed.


	9. Chapter 9

**February 15****th****, 1974**

The Resembool auxiliary building main room was crammed full with ladies eager to begin planning activities and decorations for the Spring Sheep Festival. It always amused Cassie that as involved as the men were in running the town, festival planning outside of the livestock related activities themselves fell almost exclusively to the women. She suspected the reality was that the women enjoyed fine-picking the details to death, and then men usually didn't. They just wanted to show up and have a good time.  
Whatever the reasons, Cassie sat in the circle with the nineteen other women on the committee this year, including new member Rilla Causwith. Cassie was actually pleased to see the other woman taking an active interest in the local activity. If her husband won the election, she would be expected to know everything that was going on and be involved. It was also a chance to get to know her a little better.

Though Cassie felt a little sorry for no thinking to let her know that most people dressed informally for these things. Most of the older ladies were in simple, winter farm dresses with stockings, though there was a wide range of ages and styles. Cassie was in jeans, a simple blue top, and had tossed one of Aldon's flannel shirts over it all for warmth in the slightly chilly building, though it hung open in front and she had to roll the sleeves slightly to make it fit. Her braided hair was pinned up on the back of her head.

Rilla, however, was in a designer dress suit; a Milani, if Cassie wasn't mistaken. It looked fabulous, but very out of place, and had earned several glances already.

"All right." Cassie looked down at the check list. "We've discussed some elements of the cooking contests, and the herding, animal barn, and layout. But we still don't have a final theme to design around for decorations, contests, or the opening night festivities. Any suggestions?"

"You think the boys will even notice a theme outside of eating?" Mandy Shriver asked, which was met with a chorus of chuckles.

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean _we_ can't enjoy it," commented old widow Frye.

"Maybe the big eating contest should involve something with hot peppers," Katlyn Krynt, one of the high school girls on the committee, grinned wickedly.

A nearly unanimous vote comprised mostly of laughter put that down on the suggestion list. Cassie could just imagine what her boys and Edward would have to say about that! Though hot pepper pies might make for some very sore bellies afterwards.

Other ideas were tossed out, discussed, and rejected. Butterflies had been done four years ago. "Sheep-boys" would elicit far too many inappropriate jokes. "Splash of Fun" would invite too much drinking. Or so claimed Old Widow Frye, who regaled them with the hysterical story of the festival of forty-seven, when the chosen theme of "Splash of Color" had inspired dozens of strong fruit cordials and revivals of fall hard ciders which had come out in force, and the town had suffered an almost universal four day hangover. "Of course," she admitted afterwards, "times were different then, and Resembool was much smaller."

"Well there's an idea," Rilla spoke up with a smile, and all eyes turned to look at her. "Changing with the times! Resembool has grown into quite the town; why not celebrate that progress in the presentation of the festival? We already have invention contests. What about displays? A fashion show? We could do something more modern with the decorations too, silver metallic or new industrial."

For several seconds, there was dead silence. All eyes were on Rilla, many politely, but others were incredulous or skeptical. One or two looked interested, but said nothing.

Clearly Rilla had expected resounding enthusiasm. Instead, Cassie watched as her smile twitched and then her eyes focused straight across the circle at Cassie, who happened to be posed at the top of the circle at the front of the room.

"Well?" Rilla asked her directly. "What do you think?"

Cassie did not appreciate being put on the spot, but she wasn't about to get flustered. She nodded. "Well, a fashion display might be fun. A lot of our girls design and sew their own clothes, and make accessories for themselves. Local designs being shown off would be fun, and it could be part of the sewing and quilting competitions we have every year."

"I like that idea," one of the younger women beamed. Cassie knew it would probably be popular with many of the younger folks. She hoped that at least one of Rilla's ideas would be acceptable.

"Maybe we can talk the boys into modeling," Deanna suggested from further down the circle, smiling playfully. There were several giggles and nods.

"We could make it fit the theme with the peppers," Cassie continued her suggestion as she mulled things together in her head. "Something about the Warmth of Spring." Or the heat…the passion… but she didn't have to go there out loud. The other ladies got there on their own.

"We could decorate in red and yellow! My garden is full of daffodils and bleeding hearts right around then."

"The fiddle band that plays on Fridays knows some sizzling dance tunes."

"My Leonard actually makes a spicy brew with cloves and cinnamon and a touch of pepper that'll keep a person hot all winter."

"And the artisans could get extra points for matching the theme!"

And the ideas were coming from every which way at once. Cassie could hardly note it all down fast enough, but in another half hour they had ironed out, and agreed by majority, to a plan for "Warmth of Spring."

"Well I think that may have been one of our most productive meetings yet," Deanna grinned at her as they broke up into sub-committees to discuss further details or headed home. "I'm really looking forward to it this year. Of course, I do every year. Since we don't have a lot of sheep, we mostly got to take the Festival easy." She chuckled and buttoned her coat up.

Cassie smiled at her daughter-in-law. "You'd better be taking this one easy," she teased gently.

"Art said the same thing," Deanna chuckled. "I'm sure by then I'll be too big to argue, but right now I feel pretty good. Of course, it helps that Art really enjoys helping take care of Rhiana."

"It does make it easier when you have another pair of willing arms to pass a toddler off to," Cassie agreed. Aldon had been a very attentive parent and husband, something she appreciated to this day. "He was telling me the other day he already has ideas for her second birthday party." An event which was still roughly four months away.

"Oh he has a lot of those," Deanna assured her with a nod. "I should get home and help get her bathed for bed. She really prefers story time with both of us."

"Of course. I'll be right out in a minute," Cassie replied as she sorted out papers and reached for her own coat.

"I'll wait for you then," Deanna smiled, and then turned and fell into conversation with one of the other ladies as she headed for the door.

"Very smooth."

Not expecting anyone else to be there, Cassie turned and found herself looking at an irritated Rilla. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

"No, no problem at all," Rilla replied cooly. "You handled that rather skillfully."

"Thank you," Cassie replied, though she was getting heavy hints that this wasn't meant to be a compliment. Rilla, she realized, thought Cassie had somehow manipulated the conversation and the crowd towards her own ideas. Which was ridiculous, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to convince Rilla otherwise. "I've been on the committee since we moved to Resembool. It's not a fast changing place. They tend to move in slow steps, not leaps and bounds."

"Yes… I'd noticed." Rilla waited a moment, then seemed to realize she was going to get a fight out of Cassie. "Well, good evening then." She turned and strode out.

Cassie shook her head, finished bundling up, tucked her notes into her binder, and headed outside.

"Something wrong?" Deanna asked as they started down the chilly, dark road towards their houses.

"Not wrong, per say," Cassie replied. "I just wish Rilla Causwith would figure out that there's no enemy here."

**February 19****th****, 1974**

Aldon didn't get up immediately as the town Building and Maintenance Planning Committee broke up after another of their usual long and involved meetings. There were still plans and papers scattered everywhere across the table, and he wanted to gather his thoughts as much as his things before leaving.

As he started to gather things up, the plan for re-leveling and grading some of the county dirt roads –many of which would likely never be paved, though many more were now, or were scheduled to be- his mind took hold of a thought regarding the argument over the county road that lead out towards the old mines. Some folks wanted to pave it over to encourage more housing development out that direction. Others feared it would lead to new mining or encourage trouble out that far if it was easier to get a lot of people out there. Though Aldon didn't think anyone was more likely to do that now than they had in the past. But maybe he could come up with a more constructive way of pitching the project.

"You never quit do you?"

Startled, Aldon looked up and found Ron Causwith hadn't left the room yet. Given Ron owned the electrical company, he was very involved in the committee, and had been since his arrival two years ago. Aldon shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Sometimes my brain won't let an idea go until I've worked it out. It's quiet here, so I have the luxury of figuring it out without interruption."

"House isn't quiet, hrm?" Ron asked.

"Never is," Aldon chuckled. "Not even with two of the boys grown and Ian in Central with my sister." That still left three kids at home, though Urey would be going off to college in the fall, just leaving Ted and Callie, and Aldon suspected the only thing that kept Ted from running off and trying to bead his grandfather's age record for State Alchemist was that staying in Resembool meant he learned from the "great" Fullmetal Alchemist himself. "They're always in and out, and there's always something going on. It's great; it's just not all that quiet. And my workshop's too cluttered to spread out city work like this." He gestured across the table. "Not that I'd change any of it for anything."

"Of course not," Ron nodded, and smiled a little wistfully. "I have to admit, sometimes I'm a little jealous."

"Of my clutter?" Aldon asked wryly.

"More the swarm of kids," Ron chuckled. "I love my son, but I've always wanted more kids."

"So why haven't you had any more?" Aldon asked, though he kept it sociable, and made it clear that Ron didn't have to answer if it was personal, though since Ron had brought it up, he suspected he might get an informative response.

"Rilla's never wanted them," Ron admitted. "Being pregnant didn't really agree with her, and she's kind of particular. I don't think she'd be happy going through that again."

"Nothing wrong with a small family either," Aldon assured him. "My Mom was an only child, and my Dad's only got the one brother."

"I'd say you made up for the rest of the family on your own," Ron teased, as if testing the waters.

Aldon grinned. "More than," he agreed without any embarrassment. "My sister still teases me to no end about it. Though I'll be surprised if Art and Deanna don't give us a run for their money. They've made it pretty clear they _want_ a big family."

"Didn't you?" Ron asked curiously.

Aldon shrugged as he continued straightening up maps. "Well I can't say we always gave it that much thought," he chuckled. "We certainly weren't trying _not_ to at the time, and Cassie really wanted a girl. That's why we eventually ended up adopting Callie when her mother passed during her birth. After five boys well… the odds weren't too good on producing a girl."

"There aren't many girls in my family either," Ron admitted. He glanced down at the maps on the table, which were marked for different projects, including the expansion of the electrical systems, and where new wires were being added, or replacing old ones that were long worn out to improve signal quality. "I was actually wondering, if you had a few minutes, if you could look over some ideas I've been working on to improve power output and efficiency at the electrical plant. You've got electrical experience don't you?"

"I do," Aldon nodded surprised, and a little flattered, that Causwith wanted his opinions. He wished everyone else could get along during this election period. While he and Ron had never been close buddies, they had never been at odds either, and it seemed that they weren't now. Which was good, because that was definitely how Aldon preferred things. "Sure, I'd be happy to take a look."

* * *

Despite his comments to the contrary, the house was relatively quiet when Aldon got home, a little later than planned. He could hear folks moving around upstairs getting ready for bed. The boys' shower was running, but lightly thumping feet clued him in that Ted was darting around looking for tomorrow's clothing –a common occurrence- and that meant it was Urey in the shower. Muffled voices said Cassie and Ted were talking.

Callie was in her pajamas, but curled up on the couch with a big glossy magazine in her hands; a magazine with a familiar face on the front. Grinning broadly off the cover was none other than "Mr. Star" Ian himself, at what looked like some sort of gala party, with a gorgeous girl on his arm done up like a movie star. She probably was one, Aldon thought, though he frowned as he came over. He didn't recognize the girl at all. She hadn't been in any of the previous photos he had seen. "Who's that?"

"Sherry Tamlin," Callie replied, looking up from the article.

"I thought he was seeing that… that Monica girl." He thought that was the name he remembered from the papers.

"Oh no, that was just publicity," Callie shook her head.

"Then what's this?" Aldon wasn't sure he understood the difference under these circumstances.

"Oh, I think they actually went out," Callie said, pointing to the article.

"Went?"

"Well the article is over a week old," his daughter explained patiently. "When I talked to cousin Lily on the phone, she said Ian has a girlfriend at school who goes over to Aunt Sara's house for study dates. She heard Uncle Ethan and Aunt Sara talking about it."

Aldon had the urge to call both of his siblings and find out why he hadn't been clued in on this particular conversation. "Do they actually study?"

Callie looked up at him. "How should I know?"

"Because you seem to know an awful lot for an eight year old." Aldon reached down and took the magazine. "I'm not sure you should be reading this stuff."

"It's about my brother," Callie pointed out, but she didn't fight or argue. She just shrugged. "It's not like Ian calls and tells me all about his amazing life on the phone regularly."

This was true. Lately, Ian didn't seem to call home nearly as much. Aldon could see why, if he really was seeing this Sherry girl. What teenage boy wouldn't be distracted by her… assets? "Well maybe he should. Now why don't you hurry on up to bed. I'll be up in a minute to tuck you in."

"Okay, Daddy." Callie smiled and scampered upstairs, red curls bouncing.

The chaos upstairs lasted only a little bit longer as Ted found his missing socks and pajama top, Callie was tucked into bed after a last glass of water, and Urey got out of the shower and retreated to his room to work on a paper that wasn't due for another three days, but he was on a roll and really wanted to get it finished early.

It was nice to have at least one academic he didn't have to worry about in the family.

Aldon tucked Callie in, and said good night to Ted before retreating to the bedroom with the magazine still in hand. Cassie was pulling out a night gown from the dresser, and smiled at him, before glancing at his reading material. "Since when do you read magazines?"

"I don't usually," Aldon replied. "It's Callie's."

"She must have gotten it from a friend at school," Cassie commented. "They're always borrowing stuff. Anything interesting?"

"Apparently our son swapped girlfriends again, or wasn't really going out with one -I'm not sure at this point- without calling to say anything." Aldon held out the publication.

Cassie put down her nightie and picked up the magazine, taking a long look at the cover before flipping to the article and reading. Aldon waited for her response, wondering if she would find it as disturbing as he did. "I think Lia mentioned this Sherry girl the other day on the phone," she commented.

"Does no one talk to _me_ anymore?" Aldon asked with a feeling of exasperation. First Ethan and Sara, now Cassie and Lia?

"I'm sorry, Don. It slipped my mind with everything else going on lately." Cassie shrugged apologetically and reached out and squeezed his hand. "I'm sure Ian's fine. Boys go through this stuff. Do you remember the other guys in our class in high school? Some of them went through a girl a week. Others kept going back and forth. Don't you remember how Sam Waters went back and forth with Lacy and Kelly for four months before he decided he didn't want to date either of them anymore and went to the senior dance with Doris Luckerman?"

"I wasn't like that," Aldon grumbled. He didn't need the reminder, and he really would have been happier not to have a son like that.

"And who did I marry?" Cassie smiled knowingly. "Calm down. I'm sure it's not a huge deal. If it was, Sara would be on the phone growling about how she had to nail Ian to his bedroom floor."

Now that was an image. Aldon preferred that one, but all he could see at the moment was a parade of pictures in his mind, of his son in various magazines, and almost never with the same girl in the picture. Of course, some of them were costars, but the publicity rags were horrible about blowing everything out of proportion, and Ian wasn't talking about it. "I doubt it," Aldon sighed. "She'd have used alchemy."

**February 24****th****, 1974**

:Maybe I should wear the purple gown… or perhaps the sapphire blue?: Angelique whispered to Minxia as they sat down in their seats a few minutes before class. It didn't start for another ten minutes really, but Minxia never liked to be late on test days. So they had left lunch early. Not that it had stemmed Angelique's rapid flow of relatively one-sided conversation about the big dance coming up in three days. It was all she had talked about for the last two weeks when they weren't actually discussing possible test questions.

Meanwhile Minxia's mind had been almost entirely focused on the major testing they were in the middle of studying for, and taking. Outside of having tests in almost every subject, there were tests by people from outside the school that not only tracked the student's progress, but determined the quality of instruction in the school. No one wanted the school to do badly!

Not when there was always fun to be had. In Grandpa Al's class, they had done three more one-day field trips already since their fateful Malathos trip, though all of those had been one-day weekend trips to much closer, if nearly as notable, locations. They had also proven to be much less dramatic, or dangerous. Though the one that had required repelling equipment and spelunking into a huge old cave to look at ruins that had collapsed underground centuries ago had brought back not-so-pleasant memories for half the class.

:The blue,: Minxia replied to Angelique's comments, if only to quiet her down. It wasn't like they weren't both very stylish and would make her look amazing.

:You're right," Angelique agreed and, just like that, she pulled out her book and started cram-studying for the test they were about to take, even though they had been up until lights out the night before going over the material. "Now, what boy should I go with?:

:On that I have no idea,: Minxia replied flatly. That was a subject she was getting tired of hearing about. Well that, and when she got teasing questions about her and Thrakos. Outwardly, and publically, little to nothing had changed between them. They were still comfortable, friendly, and relaxed with each other. It wasn't some badly written steamy romance novel or teen drama.

Though he hadn't asked her to the dance yet and, given he insisted that he wanted to date her, that was beginning to get a little worrisome. But Minxia hadn't admitted either fact to Angelique, because she didn't want her roommate to read too much into it before Minxia could figure out exactly what it meant.

:Do you own a tux?:

Minxia looked up from her notes to find that the subject of her thoughts had dropped into the seat next to her and Angelique was asking him questions about his clothes.

:Of course I do,: Thrakos replied. :I've always had at least one since I was a toddler. Mom liked to make us wear them for formal occasions.:

:Oh, I bet it looks fabulous!: Angelique gushed. :Is that what you're wearing?:

:Not sure actually,: Thrakos shrugged. :They're not all that comfortable. What about you?: he turned to Minxia with a smile. :Whatever I wear ought to match you and show you off right?:

Well wasn't that presumptive? Feeling mildly irritated, Minxia shrugged. :I don't know. No one's _asked_me.:

Thrakos' face went appropriately blank, and then he had the good grace to look embarrassed. :I'm sorry, Minxia, I just thought…:

:That I could read your mind?: Minxia asked, perhaps a little sharper than necessary. But she didn't take it back.

Thrakos ran one hand nervously through his hair. :I just figured it was a sure thing. You do want to go with me, right?:

She could have been mad at him longer, but Minxia didn't see much point in dragging it out. All that would do was torture him, and that wasn't fair. All he had done was forget to ask and assumed she would go with him… since they were going out. :Of course I do,: she replied. :But it's still nice to be asked.:

Thrakos smiled sheepishly. :I'll remember that.:


	10. Chapter 10

**February 27****th****, 1974**

A school dance was far more interesting now than it had been in middle school, for two reasons, Minxia thought as she surveyed the scene around them. Well, perhaps three. One, Creta had much better decorations. Two, high school had much better looking guys, and they could dress like something other than little girls. Three, she had a boyfriend.

A little tingle ran down her spine as she glanced over at Thrakos, who had actually worn the tuxedo Angelique had asked him about, just to show off, and he looked fabulous. Minxia, torn on dress options, had decided to go with one of her newest acquisitions –given she only had three formal dresses of any kind- a Xingese style sheath of burgundy silk, embroidered with flowers along the hem and up the asymmetrical hem, as well as the collared neck, which was a little more open than it would have been in her grandmother's day, or even her mother's. Her hair was twisted up and in place with two lacquered red sticks. While she might have looked typical in a Xingese crowd, at a Cretan party she stood out as exotic, and far more Xingese looking than Amestrian, despite the even mix in her features.

While she didn't want to admit it, it was kind of nice to be noticed for her beauty instead of just different. Other boys –even seniors- looked at her in surprise, and Thrakos hovered and gave them dirty looks.

Minxia thought she might just be able to get used to this.

:This is so fabulous!: Angelique beamed as she approached, coming off the dance floor. :I've danced with three senior boys!:

:What about your date?: Minxia asked with a chuckle.

:Oh, Simon? It's all right. He was dancing with the Seniors' girlfriends, so it worked out,: she giggled and picked up a cup of punch from the drinks table. :We're going to meet up again in a few for the dance contest. Are you and Thrakos entering?:

:Oh… I don't know.: Minxia enjoyed dancing, but she didn't really consider herself competition worthy. But she knew Thrakos had taken actual dance classes when he was little. Something his mother had insisted on, for formal occasions. :We probably will, I just don't expect to win.:

:You never know until you try,: Angelique replied, smiling as she sipped her drink. :Isn't that what you always tell me about homework?:

Minxia was left with that thought as Angelique went looking for her date, or perhaps another dance partner. :So, what do you think-: she turned around and stopped speaking when she realized that Thrakos was no longer standing just a few feet away. The guy he had been talking to was gone as well. Looking around the room, she found Thrakos-

-speaking with Korina Katsopalaus, a raven-haired sophomore in a rather clingy brilliant purple dress that sparkled in the low lights scattered around the hall.

Minxia felt an unfamiliar surge of jealousy as she watched them. Not that Thrakos was doing anything at all inappropriate, but Korina was smiling, and giggling, and her arms rested just-so under her cleavage that it looked even more like it might pop out of her dress if she moved wrong, though Minxia was sure the dress was probably designed to keep that from happening. Every sign of flirting with Thrakos that Korina could have given was there. She looked far too interested in whatever he was saying and, for his part, he was apparently enjoying the conversation.

It was time to put an end to that. Minxia finished her drink, put a pleasant smile on her face that her cousin Ian would have been proud of, and slipped through the crowd, sliding her hand easily around Thrakos' upper arm. :Excuse me, I hate to cut in, but the dance contest is about to start.:

:We were just talking about it,: Thrakos replied, his smile turning towards her instead. :It should be fun. You want to dance?:

:It _is_ a dance,: Minxia pointed out, keeping her tone light and ignoring the momentary fury in Korina's eyes. Apparently the older girl had her own designs for the Argyros heir. :Let's have fun.:

:Sure. Well, it was nice talking to you,: he tossed off to Korina as he turned and walked towards the dance floor with Minxia still on his arm. When they were out of ear shot, he glanced down at her, slightly puzzled. :I thought you weren't sure you wanted to enter.:

:I changed my mind,: Minxia shrugged, trying to keep it casual. :Angelique convinced me.:

:I'll have to thank her later,: Thrakos replied, his smile turning to one of relief. :Don't tell my mother, but I kind of enjoy dancing.:

:Didn't you say you hated the lessons?: Minxia asked, surprised.

:That was because our teacher was the most boring old hag alive,: Thrakos laughed. :And it's hard to enjoy dancing with a woman who frowns at you the whole time. But I like dancing itself, especially the newer moves. It helps to have a gorgeous partner,: he added with a wink.

Minxia hoped she wasn't blushing, but it made her feel slightly irritated at the same time. :Which is why you were talking to Korina?:

Thrakos looked surprised then sighed. :We were just talking. She came up and said hi.:

:She was flirting with you.:

:Really? I didn't notice.: Thrakos was grinning impishly. :I'm not into her, so relax okay? You're the only girl I want to stare at.:

Minxia resisted the urge to punch his arm as they got into position on the dance floor. :You make that sound really creepy.:

:So clearly, no other girl could possibly want me,: Thrakos laughed as the music started, and Minxia's reply was lost in the first steps of a very fast rocking number.

**February 28****th****, 1974**

"See you later, Mom!" Callie called out as she scampered out the door. "Have fun!"

"I'll try," Cassie replied with a smile and a shake of her head. She was glad the kids would all be out of the house this afternoon. Not because she anticipated any real quiet, but because no matter what was said, it wouldn't be overheard.

She had decided that the best way to put an end to the mutterings around town was to invite Rilla Causwith over for afternoon tea and a chat, and hopefully make things civil between them and clear the air. While Cassie didn't find herself particularly bothered by talk, she knew it was stressing Aldon out unnecessarily and it wasn't good for the general running of Resembool either.

She had tea ready and a tray of small finger foods on the living room table –all animals exiled outdoors or upstairs to avoid interrupting- by the time Rilla arrived, punctually, at two in the afternoon.

"Good afternoon, Rilla," Cassie smiled as she met her at the door. "Please come in, get comfortable. Would you like some tea?"

Rilla looked, for all the neutral expression, light she might rather be anywhere else, but had accepted the invitation only because it had been polite, and made in the presence of other women and she hadn't wanted to appear rude or unaccommodating. Still, she looked stiff, and she looked around the house as she stepped inside as if she had expected something different. "Yes, thank you."

"Would you prefer Amestrian Gray or Xingese Chai?" Cassie had quite the stash of tea in the kitchen, but she had prepared both since they covered a wide range of tastes. The chai was an imported favorite; a gift from Will and Ren that previous winter.

Rilla looked momentarily startled, but the expression was gone a second later. "Chai, please," she replied smoothly as she did take a seat in the nearest chair to the door, by the sofa. "Cream, no sugar."

Cassie poured two cups of the chai, added cream to both, and honey to hers, and brought Rilla her cup before sitting down. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation. We haven't gotten much of a chance to talk."

Rilla sipped her tea. "Was there something in particular you wanted to speak to me about?" she asked, her tone mildly cool.

"I just thought it would be nice to get a chance to know each other," Cassie replied calmly, refusing to let her irritation at the implied condescension.

At that, Rilla's expression became actually distasteful. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked. "Other people don't invite you over for tea?"

"Not unless they want something," Rilla sniffed. "This may come as a surprise to you, Cassandra, but not everyone thinks the way country folk do. There are certain ways in which one does business."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cassie quipped, her smile slipping from her face. "Would you have preferred martinis?" Sarcasm edged the words, but she fought down her temper. "Or perhaps a less _rustic_ location?"

"Now now, I haven't insulted your… home." Rilla hesitated over that last word. "But things are much more complicated in the city, and politics is just not something that people seem to get around here. I know Resembool has a sort of, special position in the minds of some Amestrians, but that doesn't mean it makes for career politicians."

"Or their wives?" Cassie finished for her.

"I see we understand each other," Rilla replied. "There are certain expectations."

"Such as civility when invited into someone else's home?" Cassie asked as she set down her cup on the table. This was not what she had hoped, but she couldn't say it was entirely unexpected. At least, here, they could say whatever they wanted to each other, and the truth finally seemed to be coming out. "I suppose you'd love to tell me exactly how we do not meet these expectations."

"If I have to," Rilla shrugged slightly. "As they seem obvious to anyone familiar with them."

That was _it. Absolutely it._ Cassie forced a smile to her face. "Indeed they do. I suppose, to you, or house seems quaint, our family large and boisterous, and our mode of dress less fashionable than anything you might buy at Silverman's, like the Gorgano Verducci sweater you're wearing, and the Pylosian handbag," she gestured at Rilla's clothing and purse.

"So you aren't completely ignorant of fashion," Rilla stood the same time Cassie did. The other woman was slightly taller, but Cassie didn't particularly care.

"Not at all," Cassie shrugged. "I have a closet full of Silverman's originals upstairs. I'm a little surprised, given how much research you seem to have done on my family -badly I might add- trying to start slanderous rumors, that you didn't ever put together that my maiden name is Silverman, and my father founded and still runs our department store in Central. Or, that my mother and I are the women he has run all of his new designer and line choices past most of my life." She crossed her arms under her chest and glared straight into Rilla's eyes, daring her to look away. "But that's not really the point here. The point is you seem to have some egregious misconceptions, both about Resembool, and about my family, and I'm not going to put up with your petty and pathetic power plays. In case you hadn't noticed, they don't work."

Rilla had gone silent at Cassie's unexpected candor, but her face was turning slowly purple.

"Some of us choose to live sensibly, frugally, because throwing money around is not only a waste of it, but a terrible example to set for children. Why do we have six? Because we enjoy having a large family, and spending time with our children, and because Callie needed a home, and we were in a position where we could afford to raise our family and give them what they needed without lacking for anything important. Now, I'm sorry if you can't seem to understand that people around here aren't really interested in keeping up with the fast paced, ever-changing fads of Central, but that's because they have different priorities, and if you want them to accept your ideas, than you need to be respectful of that."

"You… you _dare_ tell me how to present ideas?" Rilla sputtered. "I was a member of-"

"I don't really care what fancy clubs you were part of," Cassie cut her off. "Not now. I invited you over so we could find a way to get along, find some common ground, and maybe clear away some of any odd misconceptions clouding things up. But, clearly, that's not why you're here, and I'm tired of pretending you haven't been trying to play dirty politics. That _isn't_ how Resembool works, and not how we play this game. So if you aren't interested in getting along, then I suggest you leave with your dignity intact."

It was very clear that Rilla was not used to being addressed in that fashion; possibly hadn't once in her life. A real shame, Cassie thought. It might have done her some good. Because she seemed utterly incapable of finding a coherent retort. "Fine," she finally said sharply. She turned and picked up her purse. "But I think you'll find, you are very much mistaken." With that, she flounced out the door, slamming it behind her so hard that the decorative wall hanging by the door jumped on its hanger.

Cassie stared at the door for several seconds, just making sure Rilla didn't return. After a minute she moved to the door and peered out the glass inset. Rilla was already most of the way down the driveway in her car, which she had driven over instead of walking the three miles between their houses. Rilla insisted on living up the hill in the main part of Resembool, in one of the newer, more town-house style homes.

Well, good riddance. Cassie didn't think this boded well for the rest of the election campaign, but at least she and Rilla knew exactly where _they_ stood. Now Cassie just had to grit her teeth and smile for the next couple of months. She hoped that Rilla would leave off, having been confronted about her obvious and inappropriate behavior, but somehow Cassie doubted it.

She went back to her cup, picked up her tea, and drained it before pouring Rilla's tea down the drain.

The fight was _on_.

**March 1****st****, 1974**

Minxia set out the literature books, and pulled out her notebook, getting ready for another study session with Angelique and Thrakos. They had a quiz coming up, and while it wasn't as big as their last round of tests, the material was denser than usual, and she wanted to be sure they all really understood it.

Though so far, both of her friends were running late. Minxia tried not to grumble too much to herself about the lack of promptness, or apparent concern despite the fact that she was the only one of them who currently had an A in the class. There was no reason her friends couldn't too if they applied themselves. They both had varying levels of B.

Angelique's arrival was marked by a flurry of footsteps in the hall and a slightly breathless friend sweeping in, her scarf and hair a little wild, looking apologetic. :So sorry I'm late! I got caught up talking to Simon.:

:Don't worry about it,: Minxia sighed. That seemed to happen a lot lately. It was also making Thrakos' roommate sort of mopey, but Minxia didn't think Angelique had noticed. :Let's just get set up.:

Angelique looked relieved, though a moment later she glanced around. :Where's Thrakos?:

:Late, like you,: Minxia replied. :I don't suppose you saw him on the way here?:

Angelique shook her head. :No. But I was coming from the dining hall.:

:All right.: Minxia stood up, slightly exasperated. :I'll go get him. You just get set up and start studying.:

The hallway outside the study room was empty, so Minxia headed back towards the end of the hall, out of the building, and across towards the dormitory houses. It wasn't that it was unlike Thrakos to be a little late sometimes, but this wasn't the first time he had been late the last couple of days, and today was the latest yet.

Minxia finally spotted Thrakos sitting under a tree in the afternoon sunlight. :Hey!: she waved and called out to get his attention. :Where have you…: Her voice failed her as Korina and Thrakos both turned in her direction.

Korina looked irritated, but mildly smug. Thrakos looked surprised to see her at all. :Minxia?:

:What's going on?: Minxia asked. It felt as if a coal had just been dropped in the pit of her stomach. First it felt cold, then it began to simmer.

Thrakos' face turned cool, relaxed. :Korina and I were going to the soda shop.:

:What about our study session?:

:What are you, his babysitter?: Korina scoffed. :All you do is study. Not everyone likes to spend all their time with their nose in their books. Get over it.:

A few of the other students were stopping to listen, and look.

:Thrakos,: Minxia looked at him, a feeling of horror creeping through her, and anger. He'd lied!

:I'm not coming,: he replied, shrugging. :I've got a date.:

A…. the simmering exploded. :What do you mean _you have a date, you cheating, lying…._"

:Oh my,: Korina arched an eyebrow. :Quite the temper on your friend. Come on, Thrakos. We'll be late.:

:Yeah, let's go.: Thrakos turned, as if her tirade wasn't even aimed at him, or he didn't care.

:Come back here!: Minxia shouted, but now there were nearly fifteen people staring, and starting to whisper, and she felt her face turning red. This was so very wrong…. It couldn't be happening. But she wasn't asleep. This wasn't a dream. Though it certainly felt like a nightmare.

**March 2****nd**** 1974**

Aldon wasn't sure what the muffled noise in his house was when he came home, until he opened the door to find Cassie _ranting_ in the kitchen! "What's going on?" he shouted over her growling as she slammed a pot down on the stove and turned on the heat to make dinner.

Urey, who was standing there looking rather bemused, handed Aldon an article. "This."

Aldon looked down at the Resembool paper, and his eyes fell on an editorial letter from "Anonymous" entitled "Parenting Concerns from a Worried Correspondent." He began to read the article, but by the third line, his own face was going red, and Aldon wanted to toss the paper across the room. "What do they mean about _can't control their son's inappropriate public behavior?_" They were talking about Ian! The entire article was a disparaging barely-veiled attack on their parenting because Ian was an actor, and was photographed with multiple girls, and was clearly living a lascivious and inappropriate life without his parents, away in Central, without good parental supervision.

As if General Sara Heimler wasn't good parental supervision? As if working a full time job and still bringing home decent grades was in any way problematic? Aldon might not agree with his son's number of girlfriends, but Sara hadn't reported anything worse than typical teenage boy stubbornness.

"-going to make her sorry she ever-" Cassie was still ranting as she added pasta to the water in the pot, and yanked out a knife and started chopping carrots violently.

"She who?" Aldon looked at Cassie.

"That _woman!"_ Cassie killed a carrot with such force that the head flew across the room and smacked into Urey's chest.

"Mom thinks Rilla Causwith wrote the article," Urey explained more quietly. "Ted and Callie are hiding up at Grandma and Grandpa's."

Aldon could see why. He couldn't remember ever seeing Cassie this furious about anything, and given how many times she had told Aldon not to worry about the rumors, that they didn't bother her, that no one believed him… this one had clearly gotten right under her skin. "Good idea."

"Except that we're here," his father commented as Ed came into the house, followed by Winry. "And we saw the paper," he added, forgoing any need for explanation.

Cassie rounded on them then, eyes looking straight at Aldon. "You've got to _do_ something about this!"

"The rumors or Ian?" Aldon asked.

"Both!"

"All right, all right, calm down," he said, even though he wasn't sure it would do any good. "I see Ron all the time at meetings. He's a nice guy. I can't just go walking up and accusing his wife of writing this stuff without evidence. But-" he cut Cassie off as her mouth opened to start shouting again, "obviously these need to stop. I have no idea what Jaro down at the paper thinks he's doing, publishing this stuff. He knows it's not factual."

"Probably trying to drum up sales," Ed commented, not looking amused either, but taking it with surprising calm. Of course, Aldon thought, it wasn't his father's parenting skills they were questioning. Not straight up, anyway.

His mother looked almost as mad as Cassie, but she wasn't shouting or throwing wrenches. Not yet anyway. "He definitely needs to be spoken with. This isn't helping the election, or his sales. It's just going to keep making people mad."

"I agree," Aldon assured her. "If he stops printing these kinds of things, everything should settle back down." He honestly doubted anyone believed the slanderous statements, and with Cassie in a rage, he found it oddly easier to keep calm. "I'll talk to him, and hopefully this will be the end of it."

Oh he hoped so… for the sake of his own sanity, and the rest of his family.


	11. Chapter 11

**March 3****rd****, 1974**

There was one person Aldon could try to exert some control over, even if he was all the way in Central. So when he was fairly certain Ian should be home, Aldon picked up the phone and called Sara's house.

It only rang twice before a young male voice said, "Heimler residence, James speaking."

"Good evening, James. It's Uncle Aldon." He smiled on his end.

"Hi!' The mature formality dropped, replaced by enthusiasm. "Do you want to talk to Ian?"

"Is he available?"

"He should be. He's upstairs finishing a research paper."

"Great."

"I'll go get him."

Seconds later Aldon heard James distantly yelling up the stairs for Ian to come to the phone. Aldon noted he didn't tell Ian who it was.

Apparently, Ian was expecting a female caller. "Hello?" the voice was suave, and just a touch deeper than normal. Aldon knew that type of voice well.

"Sorry to disappoint you, lover boy, but I'm not your girlfriend."

"_Dad_?"

"Kill James later," Aldon chuckled. "I wanted to talk. You available?"

"Yeah, and I will do that," Ian replied, sounding mildly disgruntled. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Just checking in mostly, unless that's a crime now," Aldon replied. "It's not like I can keep up with everything you're up to just by reading magazines."

There was a moment of hesitation before Ian replied. "Or much of anything from magazines. Half of what they print is conjecture, and the other half rumor."

"So does that mean you haven't actually been out with the fifteen girls I've seen you in photos with?"

"Is that what you're worried about?" Ian asked, scoffing slightly. "It's all the magazine reporters blowing stuff out of proportion, Dad. I haven't been with that many girls."

Aldon considered that phrasing. "What do you mean _been with_?"

"_Out_ with… geez!" Ian replied, sounding exasperated. "I haven't. Some of them are just friends who came with me to parties or openings. I didn't get romantically involved with all of them."

"How many of them?"

"Well, it's not like I can count every girl I've ever stood next to…" Ian's tone grew warier. "What is this about, Dad?"

"It just seems like a lot of girls," Aldon admitted. He couldn't see dating that many girls, not even when he was a teenager. "Wouldn't it make more sense just to find one you like?"

"And what, settle down before I finish high school?" Ian quipped. "Most of them are one-offs, or publicity shots. I don't really care how it looks, if you want to know. Everyone in the business has to deal with it, especially those of us with piles of teen and younger adult female fans. A hot commodity gets attention, and a lot of pretty dates."

"Well it's causing some problems." Aldon briefly sketched out the details of the article in the Resembool Times.

"So I'm getting growled at because someone's making stuff up?" Ian asked, sounding not at all sympathetic, merely annoyed. "You and Mom are awesome. If anyone asks me I'll tell them so. But I don't see how that means I should stop going out with girls if I want to. It's not like any of them are prostitutes."

Aldon winced, wishing Ian wouldn't say that so loud. "I'm sure they're not, but-"

"But nothing. It's my rep, and I can handle it," Ian cut him off, patience waning. "And it's not fair to blame me for what this other chick is saying! It's my life. I'm not breaking any rules, so lay off!"

"Well if you don't see something wrong with this situation, maybe you should take a step back and look at something other than girls," Aldon snapped back. "I didn't think your career was more important to you than your family."

"That's not what I said!"

"Isn't it what you implied?" Aldon retorted. "That your mother's feelings don't matter? It doesn't bother you at all that someone is using you against us?"

There was a long pause. "Okay, yeah, it does, but that doesn't make me the bad guy, does it? I'm hardly the only guy who's ever gone on a lot of first and second dates, or asked a girl to something as a friend. The difference is when I do it everyone wants to know about it. I didn't ask the press to start nosing into my private life."

"Fair point." Aldon sighed. "But I still don't approve."

"Fine," Ian replied. "I can live with that. Unless you're going to try and order me not to date for the rest of my adolescence."

"No, I'm not," Aldon replied. For one very good reason; he was certain it wouldn't work.

**March 5****th****, 1974**

Three days were enough to make Minxia about ready to go mad. The situation with Thrakos had not improved, not one wit. It just continued to go from bad to worse.  
:Are you sure he's not coming?: Minxia asked Kerr, Thrakos' friend and roommate, as they all sat at the lunch table.

:I said yeah,: Kerr replied. :He skipped free period to have lunch with Korina, then they vanished. I haven't seen him.:

:Has he said _anything_ about me?: Minxia pressed. She hated feeling like a desperate girlfriend, but it was not a fun place to be! She refused to consider 'ex' girlfriend. Something was just so very wrong about the whole thing. Like Thrakos' sudden lack of availability. He didn't talk to her during class, or after, and he hadn't come to a study session in all three days, but the one time she'd tried to corner him, he had said he was busy and couldn't talk, and vanished into a crowd.

Not wanting to make another embarrassing scene, Minxia had backed off.

:No, actually,: Kerr replied, scowling. :He's acting really odd. I mean, he's completely normal, until the subject of girls comes up. Then it's Korina this and Korina that and…"

When he cut off, Minxia glanced at Angelique who was making 'cut it out' motions with her hand. Angelique saw Minxia looking at her, and blushed. :Have you even asked him about me?:

:I tried,: Kerr assured her as he put mayonnaise on his sandwich, :But it was like talking to a wall. It was like he didn't even hear me say your name.:

:It's weird,: Minxia replied. :Unnatural even.:

:Minx… sometimes boys do stupid things,: Angelique commented gently.

:This is _Thrakos_,: Minxia pointed out in exasperation. :He's never behaved like this, ever. We all agree it's weird and out of character. I think something happened.:

:Bad food?: Kerr suggested.

Minxia almost rolled her eyes. :No, I think someone's tampered with him somehow. Put something _in_ his food maybe.:

:Poison?: Angelique looked mildly lost.

:No, not poison,: Minxia snorted. :Alchemy.:

Both of her friends gave her highly skeptical looks. :Really, Minx? Not everyone here's an alchemist,: Angelique pointed out. :Do you think, really, that Korina is an alchemist? And what would she have made? We've been told repeatedly that love spells don't work.:

:I know that,: Minxia sighed. It was her only theory, and she didn't want to let it go. :But if she's not an alchemist, than she might know someone who is who would be willing to make something for her that would mess with Thrakos' memory, or his hormones. It's possible to do that much, even if it's not really a love potion.: In both cases, she was disgusted by the idea. But she wouldn't put it past Korina. She just didn't trust the girl.

Okay, so she didn't like the older girl because she was prowling around kissing Thrakos in every corner they could find. That didn't mean Minxia wasn't justified in her dislike, in her opinion.

:I guess,: Angelique replied. :What are you going to do though?:

:Get to the bottom of things,: Minxia replied firmly, even though she had little to no idea just how she was going to do that.

* * *

Minxia was paranoid all evening. It was far, far too easy to arrange to sneak into Korina's room while the other girl was occupied. For one thing, she and Thrakos were hardly hiding out. Korina made it very obvious that they were going out on a rather expensive date, in the earshot of anyone who might possibly be interested, and many who weren't. Certainly she talked about it incessantly around her friends, who Angelique had little trouble listening in on.

:Just call me the gossip queen,: she had chuckled as she told Minxia exactly what time Korina was leaving and roughly how late they'd be out, based on location and restaurant and everything else mentioned, like which movie they were going to. Minxia had looked up the movie times and determined she had a window of almost three hours to get into, and out of, Korina's room without being caught.

It was convenient that Korina had paid for a private single room. That meant there was no roommate to mess with. Only the fear of running into someone else on the floor without having a good alibi at the ready. Thankfully one of their classmates lived on that floor, so she had that excuse if need be, to abort the mission and not get herself in hot water.

The problems still remained of getting in and out of a locked door and searching without putting anything out of place.

There was nothing for it, Minxia decided finally. She was going to have to use alchemy. It was faster than learning to pick pockets, and quieter. As long as no one saw the light on her way in or out, she should be good to go.

What she expected to find, Minxia wasn't entirely sure either. Correspondence? Alchemy supplies? Something to prove that Korina was up to no good and had somehow made Thrakos start acting so odd he had completely forgotten about her literally overnight. It just wasn't natural!

Minxia fully intended to go to the teachers with this, but first she wanted some sort of evidence, or she was just going to sound like a scorned teenage girl angsting over stupid lost love or something.

Her heart was pounding as she approached Korina's dorm, trying to look casual; a book under her arm for class so it looked like she really might be going to talk to someone about something merely academic. It wouldn't be the first time she had done it.

Angelique and Kerr were both willing accomplices in this little espionage mission, and Minxia was grateful. She knew for certain that Korina and Thrakos had left campus over half an hour before. She had no idea how they had gotten permission, but she suspected it had to do with Korina's family connections.

Angelique had verified which room was Korina's, and Kerr was keeping an eye out, while doing what he did well, flirting with every girl who came in or out of the dorm. It actually made it easier to slip inside unnoticed.

Minxia swallowed and tried to keep to a steady stroll as she walked through the foyer, down the hall, past the living room, and up the staircases to the fourth floor, where Korina had one of the few private single rooms, on the top floor of the dorm. They were up under the gables, which meant they had interesting slanted ceilings, but no one who had one minded if it gave them privacy.

Given how social Korina was, Minxia wondered at the girl's insistence on her own room. Probably, she thought, it was just that Korina was snobby enough not to want to share her space. She was, Minxia thought, an only child as well. Maybe that had something to do with it.

She made it to the landing on the third floor before she hit her first hiccup.

:Minxia!:

She turned and saw Salea Rinner poke her head through the door onto the landing from the third floor. Minxia turned and gave Salea her best smile. :Hey, Salea. What's up?:

:Oh I was just working on a paper about Xingese commerce, and I saw you and thought, you know, maybe you could help me out? I'm a little confused on the monetary system.: Salea looked at her hopefully. :Lucky you came by.:

Lucky indeed. Minxia hated the delay, but it should only take a few minutes, and she wasn't known for blowing anyone off if they asked for help. It would be suspicious. :Sure. I was on my way to talk to Ainessa,: she held up her book. :But I'm sure she can wait.:

:Ainessa went to the library an hour ago,: Salea told her as Minxia reluctantly followed her to her room.

:Oh, well, then I'll have to find her after,: Minxia replied, as if it wasn't a big deal. :Thanks for letting me know.:

* * *

By the time she reached Korina's door, she had lost nearly half an hour, and Minxia had been lucky to give Salea the slip when the other girl went to the bathroom. Quietly, Minxia pulled a silk handkerchief out of her pocket on which she had already sketched the transmutation circle she would need to get into Korina's room. The last thing she needed was to waste time drawing circles.

Minxia placed the handkerchief over Korina's lock, and focused on simply getting a proper feel for the shape of the lock, then using alchemy to unlock the door without mangling the inside of the lock. A skeleton key of compressed air was malleable and very useful.

Korina's room was lavish, enough so that Minxia almost gagged at the amount of pale pink, lavender, and lace frills. Velvets, silks… it was more like a palace than a dorm room.

Minxia controlled her gag reflex and set to work carefully inspecting the room for any sign of foul play, but trying not to touch or move anything without putting it back exactly as it had been.

There was nothing on Korina's desk… not even studies or homework. It was spotless. Nothing on the bed, nor under it. Nothing on her bookshelves to even hint at any interest in alchemy; mostly because there were almost no books, just a few trendy magazines and her text books. Minxia knew Korina must study sometimes, because she bragged about her grades in several classes. Or she had until she had something new to brag about.

Minxia kept looking. Finally, the only place left was the closet which was, she discovered, also locked. Using the same alchemical transmutation, Minxia manipulated the closet lock.

She had struck gold! Or at least, alchemy. Minxia looked at the alchemy set in the closet, still full of some sort of lavender liquid, and knew she had found the evidence she needed. But how to prove it? There were no useful books or notes she could scavenge, and even if she did Korina would be sure to miss anything.

Thankfully, Minxia was not without resources. From her pocket, she pulled a tiny stoppered vial, and proceeded to pour a measure of the liquid into it, and close it tightly before wrapping it in cloth and putting it back in her pocket. She would have to have it analyzed and verify what it was before she had any sort of a real case to bring to the faculty. But at least she wasn't crazy! Angelique and Kerr would have to believe her now. Thrakos too, if she could just get a moment to talk to him when he wasn't completely out of his senses.

Somehow, Korina had to be feeding this stuff to Thrakos. Since they were eating together daily, slipping it into his food couldn't be all that difficult. Minxia wondered if she could get Thrakos away from her long enough for the effects of whatever the stuff was to wear off?

She heard footsteps in the hall and, panicked, Minxia closed the closet door, waiting, trying not to breathe loudly as the steps stopped outside the door. There was a knocking sound. :Room check.:

:Korina's not here Professor Pritchett,: Minxia heard another female voice. :She's out this evening. She got permission.:

A sniff of annoyance. :Very well then. We'll start with your room, Penelope.:

The footsteps faded away again, and Minxia started to breathe a little easier. It was time to get out of here! Quietly she dislodged herself from the closet, closed and relocked the closet door, then slipped back across the room and listened at the bedroom door. Assured that she heard nothing, Minxia cautiously opened the door…

The hallway was empty.

She slipped out of the room, relocked the door, and headed for the stairs, her book still under her arm, and she decided if she ran into Salea again, she would tell her that she had missed Ainessa at the library and had come back this way.

Thankfully, the excuse turned out not to be necessary. When she got back outside, Kerr had started juggling… and had half the dorm transfixed. Minxia almost stopped and stared herself. She hadn't known he could juggle!

Only common sense made her turn and head away from the dormitory as quickly as possible. She did not head towards her own dorm however, but headed straight for Grandpa Al and Grandma Elicia's campus apartment. If anyone could tell her quickly just what the purple liquid consisted of, it would be him.

* * *

Alphonse looked in puzzlement at the little jar his granddaughter had presented him with. "You want me to analyze a compound you found sitting unattended in a lab?"

"Yeah," Minxia nodded. "I have no idea exactly what's in it, but it's definitely alchemical."

"Well, that's true." And there was no reason a professor –and very few of them were alchemists- would have left something unattended in a student lab. "Let's have a look then." Al took the vial over to the kitchenette counter top and pulled out another small glass container. He poured the compound in so it would stand up on its own, then sketched out a transmutation circle on the counter that he used for determining the properties of existing compounds. It made it simpler to break it all down without doing hours of chemistry. "Watch carefully and see if you can pick up anything on how to do this," he offered with a soft chuckle as he set the glass cup on the circle.

"Why are you using a circle?" Minxia asked as she watched.

"Because not every single transmission uses the same circle," Al replied patiently. "So while I can do just about anything circulating energy through my body as a circle, sometimes it's just as useful, and instructive," he added, smiling at her, "to use the circle. If I didn't, could I have you follow?"

"Well, no," Minxia admitted, watching intently.

Al got to work as Minxia and Elicia watched quietly. It took him a couple of minutes to separate the compound into all its components. When he was done, he released the transmutation and the items in the cup were nothing left but an awkward mess. Al was glad he hadn't emptied the entire vial into the cup though. "Did you follow that?" he asked his grand-daughter.

"Most of it," Minxia replied. "I can identify all of the elements, but I don't understand exactly what they made."

"It looks like someone's botched attempt at a love potion," Al replied. "Not that it would actually create love, but it could seriously mess with someone's brain and their hormones. Are you sure you don't know who made this?" He didn't think she had done it, but that didn't mean she wasn't trying to help or cover for a friend.

"It's not me or a friend," Minxia shook her head. "I don't know for certain. Like I said, I found it. I… well honestly, I think I might know but, I need to deal with something first. Then, I promise, I'll tell you everything." Now she looked a little nervous.

Al sighed. He could press the issue, but he could also choose to trust her. "All right, but I look forward to that explanation. I've never seen this before, but it's a lot like the ones your mother has mentioned Xingese alkahestrists attempting."

"Are the effects permanent?" Minxia asked, and now she sounded too eager.

"No, they wouldn't be," Al shook his head. "I'd say they would wear off about every, oh, twelve to eighteen hours. If anyone wanted to use this, they would have to feed it to whomever they were drugging at least that often.

Minxia looked thoughtful, then nodded and looked at him, then at Elicia. "Be at breakfast in the morning, and I think maybe we'll all find out just what's up."

"And you're not going to tell us," Elicia commented.

"Sorry, Grandma," Minxia replied, looking honestly apologetic. "I just… it's my own mission, and I need to handle it."

"All right, as long as you aren't going to try any dangerous alchemy, I'll let it go," Al responded, looking her straight in the eyes.

Minxia did not look away. "I swear that I am not going to do any dangerous alchemy, or alkahestry. This isn't an academic or alchemical issue, really. This is just the evidence I need to help someone out."

"Does this have something to do with Thrakos Argyros?"

Minxia's face flushed, and Al knew he had hit the point right off. He resisted the urge to tell his granddaughter that sometimes guys just did stupid things, like forget about their friends under the influence of infatuation. Just because he and Ed hadn't been like that didn't mean it didn't happen.

"All right," Elicia cut in. "You need to get back to your dorm, young lady. We'll see you in the morning."  
"Yes, Grandma." Minxia turned and hugged her, then turned back to Al and gave him a squeeze. "Good night, Grandpa." Then she hurried out.

Al glanced at the cup on the counter. He had a feeling whatever went down tomorrow, it was going to be interesting.


	12. Chapter 12

**March 6****th****, 1974**

Minxia stared down at her plate, the lump in her throat making it very difficult to even consider eating. She had never confronted someone like this before, so directly and so publically. If her plan didn't work, all she was going to do was embarrass herself again. But she had to catch Korina unawares, before she realized that someone had taken a portion of her alchemical 'love potion.'

She sat at her usual table with Angelique and Kerr, but she kept glancing towards Korina's usual table, waiting for her to arrive with Thrakos, as she had daily since the embarrassing confrontation.

:There they are,: Angelique whispered.

Minxia fought the urge to jump and look at them as they crossed the room into her line of view with their breakfast trays and sat down. She watched, waited, for the perfect moment, as they ate slowly, Korina smiling, laughing, clearly enjoying herself. Minxia wished she could see Thrakos' face, but his back was to her seat.

Fifteen minutes later, Thrakos stood up and headed back towards the food line. Minxia presumed he was either getting seconds or something for Korina.

Minxia steadied herself, stood up, and crossed the room, weaving through the crowds, until she approached Korina obliquely. Thankfully there was currently no sitting directly beside her. The rest of the table was engaged in other conversation, and the noise of the room would mean not everyone would hear immediately.

Korina looked up at her darkly the moment she saw Minxia. :What are you doing here?: she asked with cold disdain.

Minxia put on a smile. :Oh, I just thought I should warn you not to eat what's on your plate.:

:Why?: Korina asked.

:Oh, something new in the ingredients probably won't agree with you,: Minxia replied, noting that Korina was already half way through her food. Subtly, Minxia pulled the vial of purple fluid out of her pocket and held it up so that Korina could see it.

Korina's eyes widened in shock. Then she looked up at Minxia as if she were something distasteful and foul. :Where did you get that?: she asked.

:I found it,: Minxia replied calmly, which only served to infuriate her target even more.  
Korina stood up and put her face right into Minxia's, looking down her nose at the shorter half-Xingese girl. :How dare you go into my room!:

:Your _room_?:

Minxia and Korina looked up at the same time to find Mr. Rallos, the alchemy club sponsor, standing over them with a dark look. Minxia swallowed. Was she about to get in trouble for breaking into Korina's room?

Korina looked up at the professor, and her face flushed. :I, yes. It's… it's mine. It's perfume.:

Rallos looked at her disapprovingly. :I sincerely doubt that, Miss Katsapalous.:  
Minxia blinked. He didn't believe her?

:Why wouldn't you believe me?: Korina sputtered. :She just admitted to breaking into my room!:

:We will deal with that, too,: Rallos replied flatly. :However, are you aware that any alchemical potions in any way designed to control another person's body chemistry are strictly regulated, and using them without consent is criminal?:

:Criminal?: Korina squeaked.

:I think we should discuss this in my office.:

Minxia blanched, but Korina looked downright horrified. Now, people were watching, and listening intently. Not that there was much Korina could do unless she wanted to make an even bigger scene.

:Of course, professor.: Korina stood, attempting to gather her dignity.

:What's going on here?:

Minxia jumped. Thrakos was back, holding two glasses of orange juice, and looking perplexed and not at all happy.

:We have a situation,: Rallos commented, unruffled.

:Why don't you come with me for a minute,: Alphonse stepped into the situation out of the crowd. Minxia hadn't even seen her grandfather approaching. He took hold of Thrakos' shoulder, but the boy didn't struggle. He just glowered at them all.

:I asked what's going on?:

:It will all be explained soon. But I need you to come with me.: Al led Thrakos away as Rallos motioned for Korina and Minxia to follow him.

If her grandfather was in on this, surely Minxia wasn't going to be in big trouble, right? At least, she didn't think so. She hadn't done anything with the alchemy herself other than threaten Korina with it. She hadn't actually slipped any in her food, much as she would have liked to. There hadn't been a chance. At least the bluff had worked. Breaking into the other girl's room seemed like such a small infraction in comparison. Though Minxia assumed she would receive some form of punishment.

The walk to Rallos' office had never seemed so long. Minxia wondered if Rallos was actually in at all on what she had discussed with her grandfather the evening before. Or if he had ever had any inkling Korina might be an alchemist. She certainly wasn't a member of the club.

The door closed behind them with a fatalistic thump.

:All right,: Rallos turned to face them both. :Before anyone tries to dissemble, I heard what you said, and have already had corroborated that the contents of that vial contain an illicit attempt at a love potion, and that Miss Elric obtained it from you, Miss Katsapalous, through clandestine means. However, the fact remains that the substance in question is not permitted on school grounds or, indeed, by Cretan law.:

:That's not fair!: Korina burst out, tears in her eyes. :I haven't hurt anyone.:

:You've been drugging a fellow student for your own gains, and you seem to have hurt several people in the process, young lady, including yourself.: Rallos shook his head. :No. This will be a matter for the Board of Regents and Judiciary Committee. And-: he cut her off as she tried to object, :You would be wise not to say anything that might make this situation worse for you. Now, you will report to the Headmaster, and you will not go back to your room. It is currently being searched for any other illegal substances, and the rest of this potion.:

Minxia knew she was in for her own chewing out. She swallowed and stood there, ready to take it as Korina, mouth opening and closing like a fish with shock, turned and left the room without another word.

Rallos waited for the door to close before he looked at her. :You know that, under most circumstances, Miss Elric, breaking and entering would incur severe punishment from the school.:

:Yes sir… usually?: Minxia asked hopefully.

:Your motives were suspicion of wrongdoing, which were proven out and will help a fellow student who has been unfairly used,: Rallos pointed out. :You will still receive punishment for the infraction, but you are certainly not going to be expelled over this, or suspended.:

Well, wasn't that a relief? :Thank you, Mr. Rallos,: Minxia replied fervently. :What about Korina?:

:Miss Katsapalous may not be so fortunate.:

Minxia knew that she would have to live with that guilt if Korina got expelled, but at the moment she found it difficult to feel sorry for the other girl, given the torment she had put Minxia through, and poor Thrakos. Minxia wished she knew just what was going on there. :Is Thrakos going to be all right?:

Rallos nodded once, briskly. :He has been taken to the infirmary. He will be there until his system is cleared out and we see if any damage has been done. No one will be allowed in until he has been thoroughly examined and cleared for guests.:

:Do you have any idea how long that will be?: Minxia asked.

:No, I do not.: Rallos shook his head. :You should get going, Miss Elric. You have class shortly I believe. And do not speak of this to anyone other than myself, your grandfather, or the Headmaster until told otherwise. Understood?:

:Yes, Sir.:

* * *

There were some things best left to people with a reputation for saying things straight even when they pissed off everyone in the room. Edward knew Aldon wasn't planning to fire any return attack involving Ron's wife. He wasn't even sure his son was going to talk to Ron about the situation. Of course, he shouldn't have to. This kind of politics didn't belong in Resembool, and Ed fully intended to remedy the problem himself.

So his afternoon walk just happened to take him up past the stretch of street where the Causwith's town house was located in the middle of the afternoon. And it just so happened that he knew that Rilla should be out with her son that afternoon, since she had him taking piano lessons from Old Widow Frye on Saturdays.

He knocked on the door and waited. Sure enough, Ron opened the door after a minute, and looked at Ed with an expression of surprise, then a polite smile. "Good afternoon, Mr. Elric. Can I help you?"

"Good afternoon," Ed replied, smiling back. No reason to put the man any more on his guard. "Actually, I've had something on my mind I wanted to talk to you about. Do you mind?"

"Well, no. Please, come in," Ron stepped back and let Ed enter before he closed the door behind him. "I was just working out some finer details in the improvements Aldon suggested to the electric generators."

"How's that going?" Ed asked conversationally.

"Very well," Ron smiled, more naturally this time. He gestured to the seat across from where he had clearly been sitting. The coffee table was littered with schematics. "Now what did you want to talk about? Does it have to do with Aldon's designs?"

Ed almost hated to do it, but it really needed to be done. His smile slipped. "No, not the designs. I'm sorry to say it has to do with election business."

"I see." Ron's smile faded. "But you're not here on Aldon's behalf?"

"No. I'm here on behalf of fair election," Ed admitted plainly. "And to offer some friendly advice in the name of a fair fight. Are you aware that your wife has been slandering my son and Cassandra?"

Ron blinked, then frowned. "Now see here, Mr.—"

Ed held up one hand. "She said as much to Cassie to her face, Ron. I'm not trying to point fingers. But the rumors aren't anything anyone who has been in Resembool a long time would ever believe and they're, frankly, stupid. However, they are also hurtful in both directions. Even if someone else wrote them in to help your chances, they won't. Resembool folk don't like slander, no matter how much they might like good gossip. Whoever's doing it, whether it's your wife or someone else who wants you to win, we need to figure out who it is and make them stop."

"On that, at least, I can agree," Ron nodded after a moment. "But I can't believe you'd say that—"

"Your wife is ambitious enough to verbally assault someone?" Ed finished the statement for him. "It takes quite a lot to anger my daughter-in-law. And if even a quarter of the insults thrown in that conversation are true –they haven't been repeated to anyone outside of our house by the way- than I don't blame Cassie and Aldon for being furious."

Ron looked uncomfortable enough, that Ed suspected the man wasn't as blind to his wife's faults as he clearly wanted to be. "I don't like this," he replied bluntly. "But you're right. Whether Rilla is doing something or not, it's going to reflect poorly on everyone if this gets out of hand, and it makes her look bad, and myself, almost either way. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will… look into the matter."

"As I will be doing as well," Ed replied, though there was little threat in the warning. "The disparaging articles and remarks and lies _will_ stop, one way or another."  
"I understand, sir," Ron replied stiffly.

"Thanks for taking the time to talk." Ed stood to go. There wasn't really a reason to stay long, and he doubted Causwith would appreciate it. "I'm sorry it had to be such an unpleasant topic."  
"No, it's all right." Ron stood, though he didn't offer to shake hands. "I appreciate the candor, even if I don't like it."

Ed smiled and shrugged. "I know. That's why you're a good guy."

* * *

Minxia still had no idea what her final punishment would be, other than she wouldn't be leaving the school. As far as she was concerned, whatever came up was fair and worth it if Thrakos returned to his normal self. And, she hoped, returned to _her._

As soon as she got out of classes she headed over to the Infirmary –carrying homework from all of Thrakos' classes so he would have it, and she would have an excuse to be there. She desperately hoped they would at least let her in to talk to him for a few minutes.

The school nurse gave her a firm and irritated look, but allowed Minxia in when she promised to be quick, and explained her errand.

Thrakos was in a bed at the very end of the row, closest to the East windows. Minxia was glad to see that he looked awake, though he looked rather groggy and confused. When he saw her, his face flushed, and then he looked momentarily horrified.

Minxia paused mid-step, only a few feet away. That was not the expression she was hoping for. What if he really was permanently infatuated with Korina after all? What if he was mad at her for what she had done to Korina? "Hi," she said softly.

"Hi." Thrakos looked away, then back at her a few seconds later. "That homework for me?"

"Yeah. I thought you wouldn't want to miss it," Minxia replied, though the reason sounded lame to her now. "But I came because I was worried about you. How do you feel?"

"Dazed," Thrakos replied. "And really fuzzy a lot. Like the last few days were done after the time I broke my arm when I was eight and they gave me a _lot_ of painkillers. Except, I don't remember everything. There's some holes in my memory, and I don't have any clue why I was acting the way I was except…"

"Except what?" she urged. They might as well get everything right out in the open. It would save time, and maybe a little heartache. Maybe.

Thrakos' face was flushed red again and he looked up at her pleadingly. "I remember everything I said to _you_. I have no idea why I said those things, Minx… I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Homework scattered as Minxia threw her arms around his neck. "You stupid idiot."

After several seconds of stunned silence, his arms went around her. "Is that a yes?" he asked timidly.

"You're stupid for letting someone slip a love potion in your food for almost a week," Minxia clarified, straightening up enough to glare at him properly. "And making me resort to breaking school rules to save your rear from Korina's evil clutches."

"Evil?"

"Yes," Minxia wasn't going to let him argue that point! She had to resist the urge to tell Thrakos that Korina was probably going to be expelled, or at the last suspended. She had promised not to say anything about that. "She was using alchemy on you without your consent! And she could have poisoned you if she got it wrong. Did they say how long you have to stay here?"

"A couple of days," he replied, squeezing her tighter. "To make sure everything's clear. Your Grandpa wouldn't tell me much, but he did something with alchemy and suddenly my brain was completely unfogged. He's pretty amazing."

"He is," Minxia agreed. She was beginning to think there wasn't anything her Grandfather couldn't do, outside of the impossible of course. "I… Thrakos, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything, Minx," he replied, looking anxious.

Anything. Right. She doubted he was going to like her question. "Did you have… or do you… any feelings for Korina? Real ones?"

She could have kissed him for the slight shudder of revulsion. "Gah, no! We used to get along okay, you know, just because we know each other but, no, I really never wanted to date her. Those are the weirdest memories to have right now."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make things weird," Minxia apologized. She didn't really want to talk about Korina.

"No, it's fine," Thrakos replied. "I mean, you weren't the one running around cheating on his girlfriend."

"Well it's not like you did it willingly," Minxia pointed out, trying to be okay with this too. It was going to take her a while to get over the feelings of hurt, even though she had almost never really thought he was doing it purposefully to hurt her. "There were extenuating circumstances."

Thrakos hugged her tightly. "I so do not deserve you."

Minxia grinned then, and kissed him soundly.

Thrakos reciprocated willingly, though his expression was a little bemused when they parted. "What was that for?"

"Your Amestrian is getting much better."

* * *

Alphonse didn't like to eavesdrop, but given the circumstances, he had decided it might be in everyone's best interest, and followed Minxia to the Infirmary, though he lurked outside the door. Since she and Thrakos were the only ones in the room he was in, it wasn't hard to hear.

What he heard confirmed, for him, several things, including his granddaughter's integrity. She didn't say a word about Korina's likely punishments, or even her own. She didn't even bring up the confrontation Thrakos had walked in on. And, for his part, Thrakos was just clearly grateful to have his head back to himself, and was sincerely apologetic, and awkwardly sweet about it. Whatever had happened, his interest in Minxia was real, and still there. This put Al at ease and gave him some surety that the relationship should not suffer any permanent damage from this particular escapade. At least, he didn't think so.

It also confirmed for him just how far their friendship had moved into romance. To have that shaken so early, but not come out of it blaming each other, spoke well to their maturity. Al was also pleased by the lack of over-dramatic mushy romantic stuff.

The conversation only lasted about ten minutes. Then he heard Minxia's footsteps coming back towards the door.

"I see they let you in," he commented softly as she stepped out of the door.

Minxia froze, and looked up at him. "Grandpa! I… how much…"

"I had already figured it out," he assured her with a smile. "Don't worry. I haven't told your parents. That's your job."

Minxia fidgeted. "Do you approve?"

"Of your choice of boyfriend? Given many of the alternatives, I can't complain. At least I know I can trust him to be a gentleman, and you to be sensible… mostly."

Her cheeks turned pink.

"I don't approve of breaking into other people's rooms," Al pointed out firmly. "Though I can't say Ed and I didn't do a lot of breaking into places we shouldn't in the name of justice and what's right. Just please, next time you think someone's doing something illegal, come to me first?"

"Yes, Grandpa." Minxia looked indecisive for a moment, and then hugged him quickly. "Thank you."

Al smiled and squeezed her back. "You're welcome."


	13. Chapter 13

**March 13****th****, 1974**

Election day dawned chill and raining. A very mucky, muddy day. But everyone tromped into town none-the-less to cast votes. In fact Ed, who made no fuss about planting himself in the city hall with a book that he barely read as he watched the voters come in, was impressed by the turn out. If he had to make an educated guess, he would have said that at least eighty-five percent of the people in Resembool old enough to cast a vote showed up to do so. Those who didn't were usually unable, such as those currently in the hospital. Those, however, Ed knew, had been taken votes so they could cast their votes anyway. He doubted everyone in Resembool had voted, but he could certainly not see any way most of them hadn't. Certainly it seemed everyone had a decently strong opinion one way or another.

Though, thankfully, there hadn't been any more slander –in either direction- published in the paper since Ed's little chat with Ron Causwith. Ed didn't know exactly what the man had said to his wife, or anyone else affiliated with his campaign, but it had been really quiet other than the occasional murmur of old, disproven rumor by the uninformed.

Ed tried to gage how the election was going by the people coming out. A few he already knew which way they were likely voting. The ones who smiled at him had almost certainly voted for Aldon. Those who looked nervous, or annoyed, when they realized Ed was sitting in there, had probably voted for Causwith.

Or they might just not be overly fond of Ed. He couldn't discount that fact. Still, it seemed to him like the race was going to be reasonably close.

Winry brought him lunch when she came down to vote, though by the time the polls finally got ready to close around dinner time, Ed's stomach was ready to eat right through him, and it was getting harder to concentrate.

Aldon, Cassie, and the Causwiths all showed up to cast their own votes near the end. Ed suspected this was more a coincidence of planning than coordinated. Neither couple needed to be down there, lurking, while the voting was going on.

They were nearly the last four through. When it was done, Aldon came over to Ed. "So, scared anyone off?"  
"Not as far as I can tell," Ed chuckled. "Though it has been a pretty interesting show."

"So I see," Aldon nodded down at Ed's book, which was still open to page twenty. "Now comes the hard part."

"Yep," Ed closed his book and stood up, feeling joints crack from hours of unaccustomed sitting still. "I was never fond of waiting."

"Dinner will be ready soon," Aldon informed him. "You and Mom are welcome to join us. I know the results won't come out before tomorrow morning's paper but we figured a good dinner would go well as a prelude to every possible outcome."

Ed followed them from the room, stifling his own curiosity only with years of practiced patience. "I couldn't agree more."

* * *

Ian stared at the paper in front of him. He had three pages already, but the closing paragraph just didn't want to come to him at the moment. It wasn't like he could put it off until tomorrow either. It wasn't due tomorrow, but the day after. However he knew he would never get it done if he waited. Tomorrow he was supposed to attend a photo shoot and signing with the rest of the cast of _Amestris High_. Skipping that wasn't an option either, so he continued to wrack his brain. Once he finished the paper, he had to study for midterms.

The problem, he realized, wasn't that he couldn't come up with a good conclusion because of the material. It was that he was distracted by thoughts of his father. The election in Resembool was today, and he couldn't help but feel an intense curiosity regarding how it turned out. It was weird to think of his father possibly as the Mayor of anywhere.

He also wished he could have been there to vote. But that just hadn't been possible with the life he had chosen. Ian considered calling Resembool just to see how things were going but he wasn't sure how that would go over, and he knew he wouldn't get an answer before anyone else did. So he just tried to do homework and hoped he could finish before dinner.

The doorbell rang downstairs and Ian lay down his pencil. He knew Coran and Gale were joining them for dinner tonight, and he wouldn't get any peace if he didn't join the family for dinner; from them, or from his stomach, which had been growling violently for nearly an hour. Only academic desperation had kept him from going downstairs for a snack. He was growing lately, he suspected, because he was even hungrier than usual.

Ian went downstairs, where Coran and Gale were already in the living room chatting with James and Aunt Sara while Uncle Franz put the finishing touches on dinner. Ian was getting used to the idea, very slowly, that Coran and Gale were going to be parents in less than five months, but it still startled him to see Gale every time they came over. Each time she looked different, and to his mind, it was a little disconcerting, given her actress-quality figure. She still looked good, but there was just something so weird about a woman being thrilled to be gaining weight, or her husband to be happy about it. Not that she looked heavy really. Gale worked too hard at the auto-mail shop to go soft.

It was the same uncomfortable feeling in his stomach when he thought about Art and Deanna as parents, even though he'd already met his little niece. Deanna was always so cheerful about the whole thing, she actually seemed to relish it, both the first time and this second one. And for his part, Reichart was even more infatuated than before, if that was possible.

Ian just didn't get it. But he was glad it wasn't something he had to worry about right now! Art, at least, reminded him of Dad. He wondered how Coran would take to fatherhood.

Ian's thoughts returned to his own father. He just really didn't understand Ian's point of view. If a girl was happy with a once-in-a-lifetime date with an actor and didn't have the spark to be worth keeping around to see if it developed, why should he waste time trying to force a relationship? There were hundreds of screaming fans he could have asked out. But really, as many girls as he _had _gone out with so far, Ian did have standards that had to be met before he was willing to go on an actual date, let alone kiss or cuddle.

Not being a screaming, drooling fan girl was one of those things.

**March 14****th****, 1974**

Aldon didn't sleep all night. Well he did, but he didn't remember passing out just waking up at six and last remembering seeing 2:55 on the clock, even though it wasn't when he passed out (last time he dared to look). It was then, lying in the pre-dawn darkness, that Aldon realized just how desperately he wanted to win this. He had always thought it would be interesting, a good experience, and that he could do well in the job, but he had also been okay with the idea of not winning and letting someone else do it.

But no. He really _really_ wanted to win!

Only then did certain doubts resurface that he had kept forcibly submerged. What if he hadn't done enough actual politicking? He had run such a straight-forward campaign, sticking to doing his job on his committees, speaking when called upon to do so, and just making a point of making his talents and the things he was already doing stand out in people's minds. That, and trying not to explode or give himself ulcers worrying about all the slander and mud-slinging he hadn't expected. Not that any of it had outright been Ron Causwith's fault, but Aldon would still peg his wife for the instigator in the majority of what had gone on.

That said, how would it affect his and Cassie's lives in Resembool if Ron did win, and his wife was suddenly the mayor's wife? Aldon wanted to think that Resembool wouldn't pay that any more mind than they did anyone else's title or importance outside of their usefulness, but he couldn't guarantee that.

Finally Aldon gave up trying to sleep and, without waking Cassie, crawled out of bed, pulled on his robe and slippers, and went downstairs to wait for the paper and make a cup of coffee. There was just no way he was getting any more rest before he found out the final result.

The coffee was percolating and the smell filling the kitchen when someone knocked at the door.

Who was that? Aldon couldn't imagine it was the paper delivery. It was still too early, especially on a Sunday. He opened the door.

His father was standing on the porch, smiling. "Mind if I come in and wait with you?" he asked. "I've been up since four."

"Have you been out that long?" Aldon asked, surprised. He stepped out of the way so Ed could come in.

Ed shook his head. "No. But your mother kicked me out of bed when I couldn't stay still anymore. How she can sleep I'll never know. I've barely slept a wink all night, and I'm not even the one running."

"Either way, it's kind of reassuring to know I wasn't the only one," Aldon chuckled. "Cassie's still fast asleep. I think everyone else is too. I haven't heard a peep or a floor creak."

"Coffee smells good." Ed hung up his coat and joined Aldon in the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?"

"Haven't figured that out yet," Aldon admitted. "I was thinking cinnamon rolls if we win."

"I think that should be cinnamon rolls either way." Ed poured them both cups of coffee and the two men sat down across the kitchen table from each other. "They're great consolation food and great celebration food."

Aldon couldn't fault that logic. "I don't think the kids would argue with you," he agreed. "And they do sound good."

Companionable silence fell as they sipped their coffee, and Aldon felt better just having company that understood. They didn't have to talk to know that. Which was funny, given what a talkative pair they were.

When they finished coffee, Aldon started breakfast preparations, and his father stepped in to help. The cinnamon rolls were ready and the oven heating when a thunk against the door announced the arrival of the paper.

"That Stills kid has dead on aim, doesn't it?" Aldon's father commented as he went to the door.

Aldon waited, reminding himself not to hold his breath as he watched Ed pick up the paper, close the door again, and read the headline. "Well?" he finally asked after a very long pause.

He wasn't sure what to think as his father wordlessly handed him the newspaper.

Aldon looked down at the headline.

_New Era Issued In For Resembool_

Did that mean Causwith had won? Aldon read further.

_Despite hard campaigning, the final result of this year's Mayoral election, which saw unprecedented turn out for voting, comes as a surprise only if you haven't been paying attention for the past several months. In what promised to be an interesting race, with no incumbent running, long time resident Aldon Elric faced off against relative newcomer Ron Causwith. _

Aldon started skipping lines as he got into what was essentially a recap of the entire election. "Why can't they just come to the point?" he growled.

_…so with a solid seventy-two percent of the vote, Resembool's new mayor will be Aldon Elric._

At that point, he stopped reading all together and stared down at those little words in print. That was it…

"Well? Are you going to say anything?"

Aldon looked up at his father's smug grin. Somehow, that made his victory more real. He laughed. "What have I gotten myself into now?"

* * *

_Author's Note: 2/25/2013 Finis! Yeah, I know, this one pretty much ends on happy notes. Promise plenty of angst and drama coming up in the reasonably near future!  
_

_I had planned originally to run the next story immediately after this one, but it isn't finished yet, and I don't want it to feel rushed just to get it done. It's more than half done. I have an outline on the rest, but other major projects (that unfortunately take priority) keep stealing my focus. I want to keep up the quality of the stories, and not let them suffer for the sake of 'getting them done' so Story 59 will post as soon as it's ready to go. I will try and keep an update on my profile page letting folks know when it's ready to go (it's currently eight chapters, I am anticipating another 13 chapter total based on the existing outline). And I have tons of story fodder for after that one's done too._

Thanks for your patience, reading perseverance, feedback, and I hope you keep enjoying!


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